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Archive genetics

Cannabis Strain Family Tree

Interactive parent-child relationships among the 262 cultivars in the UK archive with documented parentage.

How to read this tree

Each node represents a cultivar in the archive. Lines connect parents (above) to their descendants (below). Nodes are colour-coded by the major genetic family they belong to: Cheese (yellow), Haze (orange-red), Kush (purple), Cookies (teal), Gelato (pink), and Runtz (blue). Grey nodes are uncategorised or belong to smaller families.

Relationships shown are based on documented parentage. Disputed or unverified lineage is noted on individual strain pages. 280 parent references could not be matched to existing strain records and are listed below.

Unmatched parent references

The following parent names appear in the archive but do not yet match a documented strain profile:

Cannabis strain family tree — questions

What is a cannabis strain family tree?

A cannabis strain family tree maps parent-child relationships between cultivars, showing how strains are bred by crossing two parent plants. In the archive tree below, each strain connects to its documented parents, with colour-coding by genetic family: Cheese (yellow), Haze (orange-red), Kush (purple), Cookies (teal), Gelato (pink), and Runtz (blue).

What are the major cannabis genetic families?

The six families represented in this tree are Cheese (descended from the original UK Skunk #1 phenotype), Haze (pure sativa genetics from 1960s-70s California), Kush (indica-dominant lines from the Hindu Kush mountains), Cookies (Girl Scout Cookies and its descendants), Gelato (the Sunset Sherbet x Thin Mint GSC line), and Runtz (Zkittlez x Gelato crosses). Grey nodes are uncategorised.

Where do all cannabis strains ultimately come from?

Modern hybrid strains trace back to landrace varieties — indigenous cultivars from regions like Afghanistan, Thailand, Colombia, and Africa. These were crossed in breeding programmes starting in the 1970s and 1980s to create the foundational genetics (Skunk #1, Haze, Northern Lights, OG Kush) that underpin most modern strains.

What is the difference between a phenotype and a genotype?

Genotype is the genetic code a plant inherits from its parents. Phenotype is how those genes express under specific growing conditions — two clones of the same plant can produce different-looking and different-smelling buds when grown in different environments. This is why individual samples of the same cultivar can vary considerably.

Why are some parent references unmatched?

The archive contains parent references that do not yet match a documented strain profile. These are well-known foundational genetics (like Afghani, Skunk #1, or OG Kush) that either exist outside the current archive scope or await full documentation. The list of unmatched references appears below the tree.

How reliable is cannabis strain lineage data?

Cannabis breeding history is often oral, informal, and contested. Lineage shown here is based on breeder claims, community consensus, and genetic analysis where available. Disputed or unverified parentage is noted on individual strain pages. The archive preserves uncertainty rather than inventing precision.