From the research I've done it seems the ruderalis strain evolved in what is now the area around Kazakhstan and southern Russia....the dry, windy, climate and short growing season contributed to them evolving into short plants without many branches and maturation dependent on age rather than photoperiod. But genetics, especially trying to break down the linage for sativa, indica and ruderalis (as well as hemp), gets very convoluted because there are no written records of what was brought where and bred with what...since there are no written records of where the first cannabis plants evolved and where those seeds traveled and who grew them. About all that can be found through testing today is how close (or not)_ different cultivars (or strains) are related to each other and to other cultivars that have been tested. Its crazy now that there are over 16,000 different cultivars. Even Landrace strains are genetically similar to those from isolated areas of Afganistan or Thailand. The Landrace strains from Central and South America all originated from seeds brought to the America's in the early 1500's. Acapulco Gold and Columbian would be just two examples. No one really knows where the seed stock for those came from, only that once it got to the Americas the plants were only interbred with each other, introducing no additional genetics, and resulting in Landrace strains that evolved to the specific environmental conditions in those locations. Cheers!
