CBD Flower and CBD Strains

For many users, CBD is something you find in oils, powders, gummies, or other manufactured products. But for some, there's simply no substitute for going straight to the source: raw cannabis.

In this article, we dive into the world of CBD flower, raw hemp, and the different strains of cannabis that users can't get enough of.

What is CBD Flower?

As longtime readers will recall, CBD comes from hemp (or from hemp's psychoactive cousin, marijuana; but that's an article for a different day). Collectively, these plants are referred to as cannabis.

When harvested, dried, and cured in preparation for human use, this raw plant matter is often called "hemp flower" or "CBD flower" — and using CBD flower can give all the same benefits as your favorite CBD product.

What Are Hemp Flower Strains?

What's more, there are different strains of hemp flower, each with a slightly different balance of cannabinoids and terpenes.

Think of these strains like different breeds of dog: through careful selective breeding, hemp farmers are able to reinforce and highlight desirable traits and effects. The result is a diverse array of specialized cannabis plants, each sporting a unique balance of natural compounds that impact the effects users will experience.

What Makes Hemp Strains Different?

Depending on the strain you choose, you may experience very different effects that could make all the difference in your CBD treatment!

The most important compounds that differ from strain to strain include hemp's cannabinoids and terpenes.

• Cannabinoids include CBD, THC, CBG, CBN, and the other "canna__" sounding compounds. These tend to have the biggest impact on a strain's effect.
• Terpenes are less impactful, but they can still have a strong impact on the effects of a given strain — as well as on the strain's smell and even taste! The most common terpenes in CBD flower include myrcene, linalool, limonene, and pinene.

The balance of these natural compounds are responsible for making each strain unique. And just like with wine, a novice user might not be able to tell much difference — but to the refined palate, the right blend of cannabinoids and terpenes can make all the difference in the world!

Common and Popular CBD Flower Strains

Although the CBD product market is still taking shape, the cannabis industry has been booming since time immemorial. And over the decades, farmers, botanists, and chemists have developed some truly impressive strains of cannabis flower.

For this article, we're only concerned with high CBD strains with very, very low levels of THC. After all, that's what distinguishes hemp (which is federally legal) from marijuana (which is not).

If you're looking for a more comprehensive, searchable database of cannabis strains — including high-THC marijuana flower — we highly recommend Leafly's Strain Database.