Transkei

[CannaZen]

Hello!
I'm interested in the Transkei and south african sativas for their medicinal attributes they may offer me, as you can see below this is what my Transkei clone specimen looks like, ive only had 2 plants of the Transkei, both separate phenotypes. The other was a different bush, taller & more slender with straight, light minty tones in flower but darker, fuller spicy fruit after placed in a high humidity tank to root (cutting taken too late, failed).

A differently sourced variety was collected from the area by "African Seeds", Transkei Green.

Transkei Green - Outdoor Wild seeds from crops grows extensively in the Transkei region of South Africa. These sativa plants grow easily in outdoor conditions. Lime green color (depending on the soil), long slender 'lambs bread' buds. Great natural high similar to 'Thai'. Good yields.

Misty Kei (Transkei)

Seeds are gathered from plants growing in the South Eastern Cape, not to far inland and much closer to the sea than most other African strains we collect. It’s a very dry region, but plants grow by the river banks, where other vegetation thrive because of the rich soils. The climate consists of hot summers and mild dry winters which are fairly windy, which gives the plants very thick sturdy branches .
Wildlife seen from the shore are dolphins and whales breeding in season. In wooded and isolated areas there are wild buckand pigs that are a threat to the plants, destroying crops in search of roots and seeds.
The Xhosa people live in this area and they are made up of different tribe/clans whom speak isixhosa which is an amazing language that has as many as 15 “clicks” in its make up which originated in the Khoi San language.
One of the purest landrace come from these areas and are typically long with many slender, dense lime green buds that shimmer with crystals and are topped with orange hairs. This particular lineage is famed locally for its super fruity aroma, combining mild citrus and sour grapefruit notes as well as the effect which is super clean, natural and very cerebral.
Within the community there are many herbalists, healers, prophets and diviners who all play an important role in Xhosa village life and in the generations before them they considered the Misty Kei plant important for many different healing cures for humans as well as animals.
The long Xhosa pipes are now a days filled with tobacco but it is historical fact that the love for the Sativa landrace was strong.

I believe the potential for THCVA content could be there. I've crossed it with the pck in the hopes that its relaxing pakistan hashplant genetics will express it more so. I have not successfully flowered it yet, the first attempt was sullied by a novice mistakes & accidental pollination so i decided to stop the grow. Smoke of the best found (WEAK) buds gave a light head stone like sensation and an increased empathic awareness for me again.

 

[CannaZen]

Some pictures

 

[CannaZen]

I should add, the plant is in an 1.5 gal airpot and showing early signs of being rootbound. Plant is starting to consume and drop low leaves due to this i believe. during flowering, the plant was also rootbound and culling leaves. i was able to pile 0.5-1" of fallen leaves into its pot and colonize them with fungal compost tea.

 

[Mustafunk]

Looking nice... females selected from original African Seeds beans?

Good luck with her.

 

[Thule]

Nice Looks typically African with no obvious signs of hybridization.

 

[CannaZen]

Thanks guys. I was afraid i did not make that clear.

No, the seeds are from seeds of africa seedbank. I wanted to make a comparison, it can only be anecdotal but i think they appear more similar than not with the few pictures, flowers much like the soa store pic by the way.


She may be 100% african but im just not so sure it is a sativa as traditionally known by appearance, much hardier. Classification shows to be "cannabis rasta",

In 2005 a DNA study of the variation in Cannabis according to the DNA in their mitochondria and chloroplasts was conducted. The results showed three distinct "races" of cannabis, including the newly discovered Cannabis rasta. In central Asia the THC-rich indica predominated, while in western Europe sativa was more common. In India, south-east Asia, Africa, Mexico and Jamaica the rasta variant predominated.

interesting that it meets with the spread of cannabis to south america from south africa and possibly thcv content distribution.. i hope im not talking out of my head so to speak.

 

[Thule]

Thanks guys. I was afraid i did not make that clear.

No, the seeds are from seeds of africa seedbank. I wanted to make a comparison, it can only be anecdotal but i think they appear more similar than not with the few pictures, flowers much like the soa store pic by the way.


She may be 100% african but im just not so sure it is a sativa as traditionally known by appearance, much hardier. Classification shows to be "cannabis rasta", interesting that it meets with the spread of cannabis to south america from south africa and possibly thcv content distribution.. i hope im not talking out of my head so to speak.

Not sure what to think of that study, I think they may just have "found" the narrow leaf dominant indica type and decided to call it rasta. I get the feeling they didn't quite know what they were doing..

Anyway that's the look you'd expect to find in an African sativa, yellowish / dark green colors, robust, somewhat scraggly growth habit and deep impressions on the leaves. Most of the stuff inside SA is mixed by now but I think African weed looked different to Indian sativas even before that happened. It probably came from different sources and I tend to think West Asia rather than India..

 

[CannaZen]

I think they may just have "found" the narrow leaf dominant indica type and decided to call it rasta

Why would you think that? They found patterns in the dna, do you not understand? I mean, human dna tests are the same thing are they not?
by the way, west of india is central asia

Central Asia is the core region of the Asian continent and stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north.

I found this interesting https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=5321954&postcount=16
It has pink/purple hairs like some south american varieties, i wonder where it originates from.

 

[burningfire]

I remember that 'study' and really, I thought Rasta was a horrible term..I'm glad it didn't catch on..

the info was contradictory back then, they mix up indica and sativa

"The results showed three distinct "races" of cannabis. In central Asia the THC-rich indica predominated, while in western Europe sativa was more common. In India, south-east Asia, Africa, Mexico and Jamaica the rasta variant predominated. It looks similar to the sativa subspecies, but generally contains higher levels of THC."

"'Rasta' is not dissimilar to the sativa sub-species but New Scientist reports that it contains more THC, certainly more than the indica sub-species that is used for rope-making.
"

it's just shoddy reporting and really it just looks like NLD plants that were selected for effect rather than Fiber/Seed.

 

[Genghis Kush]

west of the indian subcontinent is west asia.

judging by the effects of African weed it seems most closely related to herb from south east asia.

East Africa has been visited by traders from west asia, India and southeast asia for thousands of years.

maybe arab traders carried tropically adapted strains from the coast inland that they acquired from Indian and Austronesian traders.

http://www.archaeology.org/news/4499...car-mung-beans

"Linguistic and genetic evidence has hinted that migrants from Southeast Asia could be among the ancestors of the modern inhabitants of Madagascar. Now Science reports that Austronesians may have settled in Madagascar between 1,000 and 1,200 years ago. Led by archaeologist Alison Crowther of the University of Queensland, an international team of scientists collected more than 2,400 ancient crop samples from 20 archaeological sites on the eastern coast of Africa, Madagascar, and the Comoro Islands, which are situated between Madagascar and the African coast. Radiocarbon dates of the charred seeds indicate that between A.D. 700 and 1200, crops such as pearl millet, cowpea, and sorghum were grown on the coast of East Africa, where Asian crops such as rice, mung bean, and cotton were rare. But the Asian crops were common on the Comoros Islands and on Madagascar. And although rice and mung bean were grown in India at the time, other common Indian crops were not found in Madagascar and the other islands. “We finally have a signal of this Austronesian expansion,” said Nicole Boivin of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History."

 

[thejact55]

Sorry, I am going to dumb down this interesting conversation. What are those black pots called? I saw them for the first time yesterday and then now again. Benefits of this design? Nice looking plants by the way.

Ok...carry on with the origin and trade route conversation..

 

[burningfire]

air pots

 

[Thule]

Why would you think that? They found patterns in the dna, do you not understand? I mean, human dna tests are the same thing are they not?
by the way, west of india is central asia

I found this interesting https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=5321954&postcount=16
It has pink/purple hairs like some south american varieties, i wonder where it originates from.

For one you can't ascribe varieties as different "races" based on mitochondrial dna alone, all it tells you is if they're directly related on the mother side.

Secondly they describe what we like to call sativa as something new they had just found "In India, south-east Asia, Africa, Mexico and Jamaica the rasta variant predominated. It looks similar to the sativa subspecies, but generally contains higher levels of THC."

In order to really understand the genetic relationships between different varieties you need to look into nuclear dna, and studies released after this 2005 study did just that and found two divergent genepools, cannabis sativa (hemp, ruderalis) and cannabis indica (hash plants, ganja plants, chinese hemp) and this is the generally accepted model at the moment.

 

[CannaZen]

Hey, I would like to apologize for being rambunctious in my previous post. I'm trying to paint a picture of the distinct cannabis subspecies based on their geological spread to better understand the cannabis genome for personal/hobby breeding and basing it on something like that in relation to visual and other attributes helps to form an image i think.

Genghis Kush, thank you for reposting that news article clipping from the african thread, i had saw that and it certainly is possible but that explanation alone leaves much to be desired for me. This plant reminds me more of hash plants from the north than thai sativa though I'm not claiming it is, id like to understand the origins of this, perhaps either my plant or South africas cultivars are a hybrid species?

I dont have a clue but the cannabis indica/sativa explanation of the geographical distribution does not look complete to me.

check this out, it looks like the Lebanese
here
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=296189&page=12


Here, my Seed plant of my transkei that i've saved was reacting to air pruning, not at all dissimilar to the response of the leb to arid conditions, in my opinion.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=7095274&postcount=114

 

[CannaZen]

The base of the plant.

what i am finding in my pck/Transkei small plants is interesting though i do not know typical 'pure' indica/sativa f1 combinations. The pck is also said to contain sativa, I've read and seen it said. i found a nice sour apple hash pheno with Transkei color characteristics, a pure kush-like form and an earlier fruity aroma.

 

[Genghis Kush]

I agree that there is a similarity between Lebanese and some African varieties.

there are probably many sources for the cannabis genetics found in Africa.

check out post #869 on this page, its a male plant grown from a seed I brought back from the Transkei a couple years, it sort of reminds me of yours:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=59587&page=87

 

[CannaZen]

Thank you Genghis, that definitely bears a similar expression. It may not look as pronounced in my Kei pictures but i have seen it lean towards that. alas, i had a very inconsistent environment. I however did not get any hermies from SoA! go figure, i thought i made an insane amount of small mistakes.
Once adapted to its environment, my transkei kei can express herself beautifully, the leaves can be quite expressive in its adapted forms, it is like selectively bred kush in aesthetics but with a natural vigor look imo.

My kei has been moderately fuzzy with hairs and quite pungent in aroma during optimal growth, over indulgence of has made me feel nauseous and lightheaded at times. I have shortness of breath, it should be known as to account for that. To use the SoA description of mild grapefruit undertones is accurate. woody nutty (sandlewood?) on vigorous growth in hot weather, it could be coming from the stems but it the nutty aroma is apparent with seed production.

 

[Thule]

I've speculated about the Lebanese connection before, search for "arab traders". They certainly were crisscrossing the oceans between the Middle East, India and Africa for centuries, Lebanon being one of the most important centers of trade. Other strains to look into are Maroc and Sinai.

Southern Africa was hit by several waves of migration from different parts of India in the 1800's, British India in those days also included Pakistan and Afghanistan.. And if you look at the map the southern tip of Africa lies at a latitude similar to south of Spain which might be pushing towards an "indica look" no matter what the genetics.

I have grown Swazi, Ciskei, Actual Sativa and some others and none of them is what I would call a tropical sativa. They all had wide-ish leaves and dense resinous buds and are in my book hybrids. That is not to say there aren't pure sativas in the regions, they're just very, very rare. Take a look at Pepe the growers South African for example.

So South Africa is mixed, the rest of Africa less so. There are some very unique genetics in Central Africa that don't resemble like any Eurasian strains. The original strains quite possibly predate any arab presence.

 

[Roms]

Sure similarities about South Africans and Lebanon but i don't think they are truely related... By the look it could resembles yes but by the smoke feelings, properties and terpenes you find the differences, no loud resemblances in facts...
South Africa by Madagascar and Austronesians was a big core node trades, an African/Asia connexion older than white men or Arabs civiliz... And maybe before arriving in South Africa, Genes has already left it a long tima ago, as humanity... African tropical canna birthplace theory... (?)

Bonne suite CannaZen thanx for sharin!

 

[Thule]

Sure similarities about South Africans and Lebanon but i don't think they are truely related... By the look it could resembles yes but by the smoke feelings, properties and terpenes you find the differences, no loud resemblances in facts...
South Africa by Madagascar and Austronesians was a big core node trades, an African/Asia connexion older than white men or Arabs civiliz... And maybe before arriving in South Africa, Genes has already left it a long tima ago, as humanity... African tropical canna birthplace theory... (?)

Bonne suite CannaZen thanx for sharin!

In the book Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany by Clarke and a wizard called Merlin they present pollen evidence for cannabis in Madagascar and the Coast of Africa by 2000BP, so that part probably happened. I think you can read the book in google books.

In the book they also speculate that Moroccan cannabis might be a hybrid of NLD and European hemp. I think this is likely taking into consideration how far pollen can travel, you've all heard the Spanish example. Personally I think cannabis in Africa has at least two main sources, probably three. (Middle East, India, SE-Asia.

I tend to put a lot of emphasis on the massive neolithic (agricultural) expansion from the Middle East in pre-historic times. It left genetic traces on all African populations, including the Khoi-San. Cannabis was certainly known in Egypt in biblical times, this might not have been WLD indica though, no one knows when exactly this sub-variety was bred but it probably happened on the Iranian plateau from where agriculture spread southwards to India as well as the steppes in the north.