Bitterroot Restoration

Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Urticales
Family: Cannabaceae
Common name: Ganja gachh, Siddi(Beng.); Indian hemp, Marijuana(Eng.).
Life cycle: Annual
Native Range: Native to central Asia the Department of Agriculture lists it in every state except Arizona, Nevada and Mississippi.

Cannabis sativa, also known as marijuana, is a coarse, rangy annual that grows 6-12 ft in height. The leaves are palmately divided into 3-7 narrow, toothed segments, most about 3-6 in  long. The stems are rough and scabrous and the inner bark is fibrous. The flowers of the female plant are arranged in racemes and can produce hundreds of seeds. Male plants shed their pollen and die several weeks prior to seed ripening on the female plants. Although genetic factors dispose a plant to become male or female, environmental factors including the diurnal light cycle can alter sexual expression.

Their leaves and the resin that exudes from them are the parts mainly used, though all parts of the plant contain the active ingredients. The principal uses of the plant are as a pain-killer, sleep-inducer and reliever of the nausea caused by chemotherapy, whilst it also has a soothing influence in nervous disorders. Cannabis does not effect a cure for many of the problems it is prescribed to treat, it is a very safe and effective medicine for helping to reduce the symptoms of many serious diseases.