Cannabis ruderalis

Cannabis ruderalis Janisch. was described by Russian botanist Dmitrij E. Janischevsky in 1924 (Uchenye Zapiski Saratovskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta) from small, wild-growing plants on the lower Volga and southern Russian steppes. Distinguishing traits include compact stature (0.3–0.8 m), reduced branching, small achenes with a persistent perianth and pronounced abscission layer (adapted for seed shattering), and — most notably — autoflowering (day-neutral) reproduction independent of photoperiod. The epithet derives from Latin rudus ("rubble, waste ground"), reflecting its ruderal habitat. ⚠️ Disputed rank: accepted as a full species by Schultes et al. (1974) and Hillig (2005), as a subspecies (C. sativa subsp. spontanea Serebriakova or subsp. ruderalis) by others, and dismissed as merely feral C. sativa by Small & Cronquist (1976) and Clarke & Merlin (2013). Its autoflowering trait has been introgressed into virtually all modern autoflower commercial cultivars (e.g., the "Lowryder" lineage). → See also: Ruderalis ⚠️, Auto-flowering, Landrace.