This article is the number twelve and the last one in a series focused on the most important landraces of cannabis. All the thousands of strains of cannabis we use today are derived from a limited number of landraces, which have been used for medicinal, religious and recreational purposes during centuries. Cannabis originated in central Asia, and from there it has spread to all corners of the world. Sometimes helped by nature, sometimes by man, cannabis seeds have conquered unimaginable distances, spreading their genetics, adapting to new environments, changing their characteristics, and therefore resulting in countless combinations. Some of these combinations stabilized themselves through inbreeding, and resulted in landraces. Some of these landraces have preserved themselves, isolated in remote areas of the planet with no contact with other cannabis strains for long periods of time.
My name is Franco, my passion is cannabis, and my work is strain-hunting for Green House Seed Company.
And this is the history of:
Brazilian Manga Rosa
Brazil is a place of large numbers: it is the largest south American country (covering three time zones), the fifth largest country on the planet, both for number of inhabitants and for square kilometers, and the Brazilian economy is one of the fastest growing and the eight largest worldwide. Brazil has the greatest biological diversity of any nation; almost 200 million people live in Brazil, but the number is just an estimate based on the last census data. Brazil is also the number one consumer market for cannabis in south America.
The country is situated on the eastern part of the south American continent, and share borders with all of the other countries on the continent except Venezuela, Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was colonized by Portugal between 1500 and 1550, and only gained independence in 1822. For over 350 years the land was exploited for its resources, and the local population exterminated or enslaved. The Portuguese also imported slaves from Africa (mostly from the west coast of the continent) to work in the sugarcane plantations and, after the discovery of gold in the 1700s, in the mines. Slavery was officially banned in 1888, almost fifty years after the independence from Portugal was proclaimed and fought. During the first 100 years of independence, Brazil was ruled by military dictatorships, until the end of World War II, when democratic elections gave the country its first real elected government. But until 1985 the Army kept control over the government, and real democracy was always an illusion. Nowadays Brazil is an example of productive democracy for all south american countries, under the guide of elected president Lula Da Silva.
The geography of Brazil is extremely complex: the land goes from sea level to 1200 meters of altitude, including tropical (central parts), equatorial (the north), and temperate areas (the eastern coastline). Water is abundant, with thousands of river systems feeding the Amazon, the world’s second largest river.
Cannabis is very popular in Brazil, despite strict laws against cultivation and consumption. People like to smoke weed, while hashish is very rare. The first cannabis seeds to arrive in brazil were imported from west Africa with the slaves, and flourished in the local climate. Different regions developed different landraces over the centuries, and nowadays there are several distinct names that can boast international recognition amongst stoners and connoisseurs alike. Names like Cabeça de Nego and Santa Maria. But the most famous of them all is the Manga Rosa. The name comes from a strain of mango, the pink mango, one of the sweetest and smoothest fruits from the region of north-east Brazil.
The Manga Rosa is a very tall sativa, a plant with long internodes, long branches and long buds. Leaves are long, thin, with non-overlapping leaflets and a very light green color. The shape of the plants depends on the settings, but generally they grow up to 2,5 or 3 meters and produce very long, narrow colas, covered in pink hairs. The seeds came hundreds of years ago from Africa, and adapted themselves to the mild tropical climate of the north-east coast of Brazil very easily. The fertile soil and the abundant rain guarantee succesful crops even with no irrigation systems and no fertilizers. The Manga Rosa has a very unique smell and flavor: it is one of the fruitiest and sweetest sativas, with a deep rose-like and mango-like smell that translates very true to itself after combustion. The high is energising, psychedelic, active, very “Brazilian†in its character.
There are no large cannabis production areas in Brazil, at least not comparable with the large areas cultivated in other south american countries. In fact, most of the weed that is consumed in Brazil comes from neighbouring Paraguay (the largest producer and exporter of cannabis on the south American continent). The Brazilian production of Manga Rosa is kept exclusive for a relatively small elite of breeders, growers and connoisseurs. It is a very underground movement that keeps tight links and that preserves the Brazilian landraces from coming in contact with all the other genetics imported from other countries.
Brazilians love to grow cannabis, and internet seed sales are booming. Everyday hundreds of people introduce to Brazil new strains by acquiring seeds over the internet; most of these seeds are cultivated outdoors, and the chance of changing the local landrace keeps increasing. The lack of a massive production area where the genetics of the Manga Rosa keep inbreeding onto themselves creates a delicate situation, where the growers and breeders have the difficult task of keeping their plants isolated and far away from other strains. But Brazilian growers are doing it very well, and it is still possible to find real Manga Rosa seeds all over north-eastern Brazil (mainly in the areas of Bahia, Alagoas, Maranhão, Pernambuco, and Sergipe).
By coincidence, the area where the Manga Rosa grows is also the best tourist coast of Brazil, guaranteeing that the name will keep its international fame for many years to come.
Franco – Green House Seed Co.
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