Cannabis

Cannabis is the plant genus at the root of everything in this Atlas. The modern botanical consensus, following Small & Cronquist's landmark 1976 taxonomy, treats it as a *single species — Cannabis sativa L. — with variation handled at the level of subspecies and varieties rather than as separate species. Familiar market names like indica and sativa are cultivar* labels, not clean botanical divisions.

There is no botanical line between hemp and marijuana. The distinction is legal, drawn by THC content: most jurisdictions classify a plant as industrial hemp when its delta-9 THC stays at or below a set threshold — 0.3% of dry weight in the United States and the European Union — and as a controlled drug above it.

The same species produces fibre, seed and a spectrum of cannabinoids (such as THC and CBD) and terpenes, depending on the variety and how it is grown. That versatility — one plant spanning food, textiles, construction, medicine and a regulated drug — is exactly why a shared vocabulary for it is worth maintaining.