Cannabaceae Essay

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Classification systems developed prior to the 1990s, such as those of Cronquist (1981) and Dahlgren (1989), typically recognized the order Urticales, which included the families Cannabaceae, Cecropiaceae, Celtidaceae, Moraceae, Ulmaceae and Urticaceae, as then circumscribed. Molecular data from 1990s onwards showed that these families were actually embedded within the order Rosales, so that from the first classification by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group in 1998, they were placed in an expanded Rosales, forming a group which has been called "urticalean rosids". Cannabaceae is a taxonomic family of dicot flowering plants whose species are infamous throughout the world. Its two genera, Cannabis and Humulus, are known for their abilities to produce both beer and narcotics. As early as 3000 BC, species of this family have been used as medicine and intoxicants in India, Central Asia, and China. The use of these plants for narcotic purposes is now illegal in most countries, but the plants are being used for other purposes such as the production of clothing and birdseed. The members of family Cannabaceae are erect, twining, or climbing plants. These plants have many leaves which generally have a palmate shape, meaning the leaflets radiate from the petiole like fingers extend from the hand. The leaf colors are usually green, but some strains of the plant can have odd colors. For example, the blueberry strain of marijuana has a blue color. Members of this family either don't have petals or their petals are very indistinct. If they do have petals, the petals are radially symmetrical. The fruit of this plant are dried and one-seeded. Often times, they have cystoliths, which are hard calcium carbonate structures at the base of a hair. Their stems are either furrowed or winged with no stipules (small pair of appendages of base of some plants). Their trichomes, hairlike

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