🌿 The History of ABC – From “Mongy Weed” to Subterfuge
(expanded with landrace findings & morphological classification)
🌱 1️⃣ Early Phase – “Mongy Weed” (Australia, 1970s–80s)
Under names such as:
Mongy Weed
Bastard Cannabis
Bindi
Dizzy
“Drunken Bastard”
a plant was described that:
barely resembled classical cannabis
showed simple or strongly reduced leaf blades
displayed minimal pinnation
was difficult to identify
grew bushy or semi-climbing
“Mongy” was Australian slang for “abnormal” or “feral.”
This phase appears to represent a locally circulating feral population rather than an intentional breeding effort — morphologically stable, yet unusual.
Landrace phase outcome:
high morphological variability
recessive leaf mutation already consistently present
no solid evidence of intentional hybridization
🌿 2️⃣ Dizzy – The Climbing Variant
Historical descriptions differentiate this line further:
longer internodes
more liana-like or climbing habit
even more reduced leaflet segmentation
narrow leaf blades
Important:
“Dizzy” is generally regarded as a variant within the ABC population rather than an independent mutation.
Landrace interpretation:
→ likely regulatory variation of the same base mutation
→ environmental selection may have modulated growth form
🌿 3️⃣ Domestication Phase – SubRosa (early 2000s)
With projects such as SubRosa, directed stabilization began.
Narratives from this phase included:
“taming the wild form”
“camouflaged by nature”
“vigour of the wild form”
“stabilized for open pollination”
Developments included:
establishment of IBL lines
preservation across separate locations (“Sites 1–4”)
marketing as a camouflage plant
Outcome of this phase:
stabilized morphology
slightly improved yield
consistent fixation of leaf architecture
🌿 4️⃣ Subterfuge – Outcross Optimization
With projects like Subterfuge (associated with Hyb Seeds):
outcrossing with higher-performing lines
increased potency
improved floral structure
retention of the ABC leaf morphology
The focus shifted from preservation to functional optimization.
🌿 The Hop Speculation – A Neutral Analysis
Botanical Reality
Cannabis sativa
and
Humulus japonicus
both belong to the Cannabaceae family.
However:
intergeneric seed hybrids are considered extremely rare
no reproducible, documented fertile natural hybrids exist in historical records
chromosomal barriers argue against spontaneous crossing
In Australia, plants such as:
Dodonaea viscosa
are commonly called “hop bush,” but are taxonomically unrelated to Cannabis or Humulus.
Conclusion regarding the original ABC landrace:
There is no reliable evidence supporting hop involvement.
🌿 Most Probable Explanation of ABC Morphology
Available evidence strongly supports:
a natural mutation
recessive leaf-development variation
regulatory changes in leaf primordia formation
altered auxin distribution
reduced marginal segmentation
This explains:
simple leaf blade
reduced pinnation
camouflage effect
fern-like structure
Without requiring hybridization.
📘 Developmental Overview
Phase
Character
Outcome
Mongy Weed
wild mutation
high variability
Dizzy
climbing variant
growth modification
SubRosa
stabilization
IBL lines
Sites 1–4
preservation
genetic safeguarding
Subterfuge
outcross
performance optimization
🌿 Position in Contemporary Discussion
Historically, ABC is most likely:
→ an independent mutation within Cannabis
→ not a documented hop cross
→ later hybridized and performance-optimized
While modern breeding projects now explore intergeneric approaches within Cannabaceae under controlled conditions, these contemporary efforts should not be retroactively projected onto the original Australian landrace.