# Ruderalis

> A name for wild or feral, short, early-flowering northern cannabis populations, the historic source of the autoflowering trait; not a separate species in GenetixBay's view.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/ruderalis.html
- Also written: Cannabis ruderalis, C. ruderalis, ruderalis genetics, ruderal cannabis
- Glossary category: Plant biology · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Ruderalis refers to short, sparsely branched, early-maturing cannabis found growing wild or feral in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It was described as *Cannabis ruderalis* Janisch. in 1924. "Ruderal" means a plant of disturbed ground, such as roadsides and field edges. These populations often flower by age rather than night length and usually have low [THC](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/thc.md).

## In practice

For growers, "ruderalis" mostly means "where the [auto](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/autoflower.md) [gene](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/gene.md) came from". Modern autoflowers carry the day-neutral trait [introgressed](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/introgression.md) into drug-type backgrounds over many generations, so a modern auto is overwhelmingly drug-type genetics plus the autoflowering [locus](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/locus.md). Its quality says nothing about wild ruderalis.

Calling an auto "a ruderalis hybrid" is fine as history. As taxonomy it is outdated.

## Don't confuse with

- **Autoflower**: a trait and plant type; ruderalis is a population label.
- **Hemp**: a use category within the same species.
- **Landrace**: a farmer-selected local population, not a wild ruderal.

## Myth check

"Indica, sativa and ruderalis are three species" is not the consensus. GenetixBay house position (Established): there is one species, *[Cannabis sativa](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cannabis-sativa.md)* L. Thousands of years ago there may have been more distinct groups, ruderalis included, but not today. See [indica, sativa, ruderalis](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/indica-sativa-ruderalis.md).

## Related terms

[Autoflower](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/autoflower.md), [Cannabis sativa L.](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cannabis-sativa.md), [Photoperiod](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/photoperiod.md)

## Read more

- [Indica, sativa and ruderalis: what the names really mean](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/indica-sativa-ruderalis.md)
- [Breeding autoflowers: getting the trait into a photoperiod line](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/breeding-autoflowers.md)

## Sources

1. McPartland JM. 2018. Cannabis systematics at the levels of family, genus, and species. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research 3(1):203-212. https://doi.org/10.1089/can.2018.0039
2. Small E. 2015. Evolution and classification of Cannabis sativa (marijuana, hemp) in relation to human utilization. The Botanical Review 81:189-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12229-015-9157-3
3. Toth JA, Stack GM, Carlson CH, Smart LB. 2022. Identification and mapping of major-effect flowering time loci Autoflower1 and Early1 in Cannabis sativa L. Frontiers in Plant Science 13:991680. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.991680