Cannabis sativa is an annual herbaceous flowering plant indigenous to eastern Asia but now of cosmopolitan distribution due to cultivation. It is placed in the Cannabis genus which belongs to a small but diverse family the Cannabaceae. It has been cultivated throughout recorded history, used as a source of industrial fibre, seed oil, food, recreation, religious and spiritual moods and medicine. Each part of the plant is harvested differently, depending on the purpose of its use. The species was first classified by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.