With so many strains, stoners may not know where the original marijuana plants were first grown. If you’ve done any research for your cultivation projects and studied marijuana anatomy, you’d typically read about landrace and heirloom strains.
For those who’ve seen those terms but don’t know what they mean, we’ll explain all you need to know about landrace strains and heirlooms.
Is there any difference between heirloom and landrace strains?
Yes, they are different. Heirlooms have been brought from their "motherhood" and cultivated in a new environment but they haven't been cross-bred or pollinated in a specific way. While landrace cannabis is another story. Landraces are wild cultivars grown across the planet with no human interaction. These strains maintained the original genetics as well as characteristics that are typical for the place they grow.
What are landrace marijuana strains?
Landrace cannabis strains grow naturally in specific parts of the world. They’re pure and exist in the wild with no human interference. These plants are not cross-bred and are generally completely indica or sativa. People used to travel around the globe to search for new strains of cannabis and try the different varieties of landrace strains.
Once the only marijuana plants available in the ‘60s and ‘70s, landrace seeds are harder to come by nowadays. But they’re not extinct. There are seed banks that still sell them and Seedsupreme is one of them. Look at our collection of landrace seeds to grow. They are really rare but their original taste and smell can't be compared with an enormous number of cross-bred hybrids that you can find almost everywhere.
Where landrace strains originated
It’s believed that Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America were the primary origins of landrace cannabis strains. Most pure landraces are traced back to the Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Landrace Indica strains were isolated in regions close to those countries, while landrace sativa strains migrated worldwide.
Back in the mid-’50s through the 1970s, a cannabis route that mainly ran through Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal, became known as the Hippie Trail. It was where hippies collected the best landrace strains and brought them back to the West. From these plants, there are now tens of thousands of hybrids.
Why landrace strains are rare
When landrace strains are removed from their original environment and cultivated in new areas, they lose much of their identity. It’s almost impossible to reproduce the original growing conditions to create strains with similar pure genetics.
As such, landrace cannabis can still be found but are very rare. Only about a hundred landraces exist today. If you can obtain rare landrace strains seeds in their pure form, you’ll possess a piece of history that goes back thousands of years.
Why landrace strains are unique
Besides being the oldest marijuana strains in the world, landrace cannabis strains originally grew as nature intended.
Without human tampering and contamination by other species, the genetics of these plants were pure. You can find evidence of their purity in their flavor, aroma, and effect. Two different plants cultivated in the same region often displayed similar psychoactive and medicinal properties.
Well-known landrace strains list
Landrace marijuana strains are typically named after the place or the area they were created. For instance, North American landrace strains refer to indica or sativa species grown in that region.
Asian landrace strains:
- Hindu Kush
- Afghani
- Thai
African landrace strains:
- Durban Poison
- Swazi Gold
- Red Congolese.
One of the many well-known Mexican landrace strains is Cannalope Haze. To help you know what to look for when browsing cannabis seed banks, we suggest you check out the understanding Regular, Feminized, and Autoflowering seeds article.
What are heirloom marijuana strains?
Heirloom strains are cannabis seeds that were removed from their original region and grown elsewhere.
They’re, in a sense, landrace strains cultivated in new locations. Although heirlooms were not crossbred with other species, the genetic modifications resulting from the environmental change made them less pure. Yet, compared to hybrid strains, they’re still entirely heirloom sativa strains or indica ones. In some seed banks, including ours, you can find an outstanding collection of pure Indica seeds, so this enables you to grow your own heirloom cannabis in your backyard or even on a windowsill.
Heirloom cannabis strains are the predecessors to modern strains that have been modified to create traits such as color and a high level of THC.
Where heirloom strains originated
Heirloom cannabis strains typically refer to the landraces collected from their original regions and cultivated in Northern California and Hawaii. There are still some heirlooms from the ’70s growing in Hawaii, although most of them are no longer pure. Instead, the marijuana gardens now contain hybrids.
Why heirloom strains are rare
Although they’re not as rare as landrace strains, heirlooms are difficult to find. More growers are focused on developing modern hybrids, and the interest in landrace and heirloom strains has diminished.
It’s also possible that breeders who own heirlooms don’t want to offer them to the public because they would rather use them to create hybrids.
Why heirloom strains are unique
Despite being cultivated in new regions away from their original habitats, heirlooms are closest to landrace strains in pure genetics. Their offspring typically share similar traits such as aroma, flavor, and robustness, which is why cannabis breeders favor heirlooms when landrace strains are not available.
When it comes to breeding, the former produces predictable results when creating indica or sativa strains, which is not the case when using crossbred species.
Well-known heirloom strains list
It’s tricky to differentiate between landrace and heirloom strains as they can overlap. There are instances when a strain is classified as both, depending on the source.
Some of those that fall into the heirloom category include:
- Lamb’s Bread
- Northern Lights
- Acapulco Gold
- Angola Red
Importance of landrace and heirloom strains
Despite the popularity of modern hybrids, many breeders prefer cultivating landrace and heirloom strains. The former strain is a preferred choice because it’s natural, making it effective for breeding purposes compared to hybrids. People also choose to consume the product from these original marijuana strains because they have more chemical compounds. Current strains have fewer of those due to cross-breeding.
Breeders who want to breed a specific strain should go for landrace strains as the outcome is more predictable. If you’re new, you must first gain enough knowledge, in particular, about marijuana plant anatomy.
