What myrcene is

The most prevalent terpene in most varieties of cannabis, with a spicy, earthy and musky scent.

Strains listing it

3,378

Average listed THC

21.3%

Aroma

Spicy, earthy and musky

Also found in

hops, lemongrass, verbena

Myrcene is described in research as the most prevalent terpene in most varieties of cannabis. Outside the plant it occurs in the essential oils of hops, lemongrass, verbena and bay, and in citrus fruit. In cannabis it gives the spicy, earthy and musky notes many strains share.

Its reputation is as a sedative, and that evidence comes mostly from hops preparations and from studies in mice. A 2011 review in the British Journal of Pharmacology treats myrcene as a prominent sedative in cannabis as a hypothesis rather than a finding, and cites no human evidence for it.

Read a myrcene-forward listing as a description of smell.

Myrcene in our catalogue

3,378 published strains list myrcene: 1,091 indica (32%), 1,879 hybrid (56%) and 408 sativa (12%), averaging 21.3% listed THC. The flavour notes they carry most often are earthy, sweet, fruity, pine and woody.

Counts are computed from our published strain catalogue at page load. Terpene listings describe a cultivar’s reported profile rather than an assay of any particular batch. The idea that terpene content shapes the felt effects of cannabis, the “entourage effect”, remains unproven in people, and nothing here should be read as a medical claim. For adults 19+.

Sources: Terpenes/terpenoids in cannabis: are they important? (review, PMC); Surendran et al. (2021), Myrcene, Frontiers in Nutrition; Russo (2011), Taming THC, British Journal of Pharmacology.