Help:Documenting Accessions

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This is a project information page for Landrace.Wiki. It describes the project's standards, processes, or structure. It is not an encyclopaedic article.

This page explains how to document a new accession on Landrace.Wiki, from gathering field data to creating a complete accession page.

If you want to understand what an accession page contains and how to read one, see Help:Accessions instead.

For general contribution guidance, see Landrace.Wiki:Contributing.

Before you start

An accession is a documented sample or observation of a cannabis population at a specific place and time. Every accession page records who collected it, where, when, what was observed, and what material (if any) was preserved.

Before creating a page, make sure you have at least the following:

• A collection date.
• A country, province, and locality where the material was collected or observed.
• GPS coordinates (these will be obfuscated for safety; see GPS and farmer safety below).
• A basic description of what was collected or observed: seeds, cuttings, observation only.
• Some context about the cultivation setting: who grows it, how, and roughly how much.

If you have seeds or other germplasm, note the initial count, weight, and storage location. If you only observed plants in the field without collecting material, that is still a valid accession record.

The tier system

Accession documentation is divided into three tiers. You do not need to complete all three to create a page. Start with Tier 1 and add detail over time.

Tier 1: Essential

Tier 1 covers the minimum needed for a useful accession record: roughly 46 fields. These include primary identification (descriptive name, accession ID, classification, collection method, sourcing type), geographic data (country, province, district, locality, GPS coordinates, elevation, growing area, growing region), collection details (date, collector, sample size), traditional nomenclature (local names, pronunciation, translation), and basic botanical observations (growth pattern, branching, leaf shape, flower structure).

If you can fill out Tier 1 completely, you have a solid accession page that other researchers can build on.

Tier 2: Enhanced

Tier 2 adds roughly 98 fields covering detailed morphological data (leaflet count, leaf colour, stem colour, stigma colour, serration, plant height range, flowering time range), cultivation practices (planting method, planting and harvest dates for up to two cycles, soil type, soil pH), population data (population estimate, male/female ratio, hermaphroditism rate, culling practices, introgression level, seed sourcing), and processing details (processing method, aroma, effects).

This level of detail typically comes from extended fieldwork or grow-out trials rather than a single collection visit.

Tier 3: Research grade

Tier 3 adds roughly 83 fields for laboratory and genetic data: chemotype, individual cannabinoid percentages (THC, CBD, CBG, CBN, CBC, THCV, CBDV), terpene profiles (myrcene, limonene, linalool, pinene, caryophyllene, humulene, ocimene, terpinolene, camphene), total cannabinoid and terpene percentages, and full conservation assessment. Tier 3 data requires lab analysis or collaboration with a testing facility.

Accession ID format

Every accession receives a unique ID following this pattern:

{COL}-{COUNTRY}-{REGION}-{MMYYYY}{NNNN}

The components are:

• {COL} — a three-letter abbreviation for the collector or organisation (e.g. ZOM for the Zomia Collective, RSC for a collector with the initials R.S.C.).
• {COUNTRY} — a three-letter country code (e.g. AFG for Afghanistan, IND for India, THA for Thailand).
• {REGION} — a short abbreviation for the province or region (e.g. BAL for Balkh, WEB for West Bengal, PHU for Phu Phan).
• {MMYYYY} — two-digit month and four-digit year of collection.
• {NNNN} — a four-digit sequential number, starting from 0001.

Examples: RSC-AFG-BAL-0120190001 (collector RSC, Afghanistan, Balkh, January 2019, accession 1), ZOM-IND-WEB-0620250075 (Zomia Collective, India, West Bengal, June 2025, accession 75), ZOM-THA-PHU-0120250001 (Zomia Collective, Thailand, Phu Phan, January 2025, accession 1).

The accession ID is also the page title. When creating a new accession, use the full ID as the page name.

Creating an accession page

The easiest way to create an accession page is to use the accession form. The form walks you through every field in order, grouped by tier, and generates the page automatically when you save.

To create a new accession page:

1. Choose your accession ID following the format above.
2. Go to the accession form.
3. Fill out the Tier 1 fields (marked with a red asterisk). These are the minimum for a useful record.
4. Fill out as much Tier 2 and Tier 3 data as you have. Leave fields blank rather than guessing.
5. Click Save accession.

The form sets the page title from the accession ID you enter, links the templates, and enables the map automatically. You do not need to know any wiki markup to use it.

If you prefer to work with wikitext directly, you can also create the page manually using {{Accession}} (which includes {{Infobox accession}} automatically). See the template source for the full list of parameters.

Key fields explained

Classification

Every accession is classified as one of: Landrace (a traditional, locally adapted population), Feral (plants growing without deliberate cultivation), or Hybrid (populations with known or suspected modern hybrid introgression). If you are unsure, note what you observed and flag the uncertainty on the talk page.

Accession type and selection type

Accession type describes what was documented: a general population (the whole field or patch), a selection (specific plants chosen from within a population), or a reproduction (seeds grown out from a prior collection). Selection type specifies whether individual plants, multiple plants, or the entire population were sampled.

Sourcing type

This records the provenance chain: point of origin (collected directly from the field where it grows), first generation reproduction (one generation removed from the original site), multi-generational reproduction, commercial source, private collection, or historical/literature record. Point-of-origin collections are the most valuable for conservation purposes.

Sexual characteristics

Record what you observed: female, male, hermaphroditic, dioecious (both male and female plants present in the population), or unknown.

Conservation priority

Accession-level conservation priority uses four levels: Critical, High, Medium, and Low. This reflects the urgency of preserving this specific population based on threats like eradication, genetic contamination, habitat loss, or declining farmer knowledge. If you are unsure, describe the threats you observed and leave the priority field blank.

Geographic linking

Every accession must be linked to its position in the geographic hierarchy. At minimum, link:

• Country (e.g. [[India]])
• Growing region (e.g. [[North Bengal Plains]])
• Growing area (e.g. [[Koch Bihar]])

If the field and appellation pages exist, link those too. If they do not exist yet, note the field name and locality in your data; pages for those levels can be created later.

The full hierarchy runs: Gene Pool, Regional Complex, Growing Region, Growing Area, Appellation, Field, Accession. In practice, Gene Pool and Regional Complex are classification metadata stored on the page but not used for navigation. Appellations and fields are the most granular levels and are being built out as documentation expands.

See Help:Geographic pages for guidance on creating region, area, and field pages.

GPS and farmer safety

GPS coordinates are stored on every accession page to support map display and geographic queries. However, in prohibition countries or areas with active eradication campaigns, exact coordinates can put farmers at risk.

The rules:

• Always record the most accurate GPS coordinates you can in the field.
• When entering coordinates on the wiki, round by approximately 500 metres to prevent pinpointing individual farms.
• Never publish exact GPS coordinates for active cultivation sites in prohibition countries.
• Use aliases for farmer names, not real names.
• Strip EXIF metadata from all photographs before uploading (most phones embed GPS coordinates in photo metadata).

These rules apply to all documentation, including talk page discussions and edit summaries. If you are unsure whether a location is sensitive, treat it as sensitive.

For the full safety policy, see Norms: Safety.

Photos and media

Photographs add significant value to accession records. Useful photo subjects include: whole plant in habitat, leaf structure close-up, flowering branches, inflorescence close-up, trichome detail, stem, seeds or cuttings, habitat overview, and cultivation context (sowing, harvest, drying, processing).

Before uploading:

• Strip EXIF metadata. Most image editors and dedicated EXIF removal tools can do this.
• Do not include identifiable faces without explicit consent.
• Do not include landmarks, signage, or other features that could identify an exact location in a sensitive area.

For general guidance on uploading media, see Help:Media and safety.

After the page is created

Once your accession page is live, you can continue to improve it. Add Tier 2 or Tier 3 data as it becomes available. Upload photos. Expand the botanical description after grow-out observations. Link related accessions if you have documented multiple populations in the same area.

If other editors have questions or suggestions, they will use the accession's Talk tab. Check back periodically and respond to any discussion. Sign talk page messages with ~~~~.

Related pages

• Help:Accessions for understanding what accession pages contain and how to read them.
• Help:Geographic pages for creating and linking geographic hierarchy pages.
• Landrace.Wiki:Contributing for all contribution paths.
• Landrace.Wiki:Norms for project-wide standards on safety, tone, and evidence.
• Help:Sourcing for citing references on any wiki page.
• Help:Media and safety for photo upload guidelines.