plants of the gods pt. 1

8/3/2019 Plants of the Gods Pt. 1

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Left In Lewis Carroll's Abce /n Wonderland theencounter between Alice and the langorous cater-pillar IS as follows She stretched herself up ontiptoe and peeped over the edge of the mush -room and her eyes immediately met those of a

large blue caterpillar that was sitting on the topwit h its arms folded quietly smoking a longhookah and taking not the slightest noticeof heror anything else

These three photographs show thegerminating Hempplant Theround-ed leaves are cotyledons or seed-leaves The first real leaves are al-ways simple. not segmented as are

the mature leaves (page 94)

long been uncertain. Botanists have not

agreed on the family to which Carinabixbelongs: early investigators put it in the

Nettle family (Urticaceae); later it was

accoinmodated in the Fig family(Moraceae) ; the general trend today is toassign it to a special family, Cannabaceae,

in which only Caririabix and Hirriirrlirs, thegenus of Hops, are members. There h3seven been disagreement as to how many

species ofCar~rrabisexist: whether the genuscomprises one highly variable species orseveral distinct species. Evidencc nowstrongly indicates that three species can be

recognized: C. ndi ca , C. nrdrralia, and C.sativa. These species are distinguished bydifferent growth habits, characters of the

akenes, and especially by major differencesin structure of the wood. Although all

i i Vspecies possess cannabinols, there may possi-

bly be significant chemical differences, butth e evidence is not yet available.

We cannot k now no w which of the several

uses of Cannabis was earliest. Since plantuses normally proceed from the simpler to

the mo re complex, one might presume that

its useful fibers first attracted man's atten-

tion. Indeed remains of hempen fibers havebeen found in the earliest archaeological

sites in the cradles of Asiatic civilization:

evidence of fiber in Chin a dating from 4000B.C. and hempen rope and thread from

Turkestan from 3000 B.C. Stone beaters for

pounding hemp fiber and impressions of

hempen cord baked into pottery have been

found in ancient sites in Taiwan. Hempen

fabrics have been found in Turkish sites of

the late eighth century B.c., and there is a

questionable specimen of Hemp in anEgyptian tomb dated between three and

four thousand );cars ago.

The original home of Cannabis

(hatched area) is thoug ht to be cen-tral Asia but it has spread aroundthe globe (shaded area) with the ex-ception of Arctic regions and areasof wet tropical forests Cannabisspread at a very early date to Africa(except for the humid tropics) andwas quickly accepted into nativepharmacopoeias The Spaniardstook it to Mexico and Peru, theFrench to Canada the English toeastern North America It had beenintroduced i nto northern Europe inViking times It was probably the

Scythians who took it first to China

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The C%;ograph illustrates the srinconspicuous green flowers ofpistillate plant of CannabissarThe sexes in Cannabisare normon different Dlants

Woodcut of Hemp or Cannabissariva as illustrated In the herbalKreuterbuch of Leonard Fuchs.1543

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(1) r o p of male plant in flower (2)top offemale plant in fruit (3) seed-ling (4) leaflet from a large 11-part-ed leaf (5) portion of a staml nateinflorescence with buds and ma-

ture male flower (6)female flowerswith stlgmas protruding from h a l vbract (7)fruit enclosed in persistenth a i v bract (8)fruit lateral view (9)fruit end view (10)glandular halrwith multicellular stalk (1 1)glandu-

lar hair with short one-celled invlsi-ble stalk (12) non -glandular halrcontalnlng a cystolith

that it was the Scythians who spread it

westward to Europe.

While the Greeks and Ronians niay notgenerally have taken Cntrrzahis for inebria-tion, there are indications that thcy wereaware of the psychoactivc effects of thedrug. Democritus reported that it was

occasionally drunk with wine and myrrhto produce visionary states, and Galcn,

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food 111 eastern Europe, and in the UnitedStates as a major ingredient ofbird food.The folk-nied~cinalvalue ofH e m p f r e -quc~itl> ndistinguishable from its hallu-cinogenic properties-may even be Its ear-hcct role as an econonllc plant. The earliestrecord of the niediciiial use of the plant 1sthat of the Chinese emperor-herballst Shen

Nung who, five thousand years ago,rcconimcndcd Cnrlnabls for malaria, beri-beri, constipat~on,rheumatic pains, absent-

plants of the gods pt. 1

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