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The Official Cannabis collection · sheet 03No 03 · Purple UrkleGenetics

Genetics

Is Purple Urkle indica or sativa? Its genetics and family tree

Purple Urkle is an indica, described by most sources as a selected phenotype of Mendocino Purps, a purple strain from Mendocino County in Northern California. Whether it is also a parent of Granddaddy Purple is disputed.1,2,3,4,5

Family tree

  • Mendocino PurpsMendocino County, California; reported as a selected phenotype

Purple Urkle

  • Granddaddy Purple (disputed)Purple Urkle × Big Bud
  • Orange SherbertOrange Cream × Purple Urkle × Cherry Pie
  • GobbstopperPurple Urkle × Sin City Kush
  • Rip City PurpsGobbstopper × Purple Urkle (backcross)
  • Sour UrkleSour Diesel × Purple Urkle
  • White UrklePurple Urkle × The White
  • Mendo Purple Urkle 3.5Mendo Purps #35 × Purple Urkle
Parent and offspring as reported by Leafly, Weedmaps, AllBud and SeedFinder; the Granddaddy Purple link is disputed.1,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Its parent: Mendocino Purps

Mendocino Purps, also called Mendo Purps or The Purps, comes out of Mendocino County in Northern California. It won a Top Ten slot in High Times’ Strains of the Year in 2007 and began as a clone-only plant before BC Bud Depot developed a stable cross sold as The Purps seeds.3 Mendocino County is one of the three counties of the Emerald Triangle, the largest cannabis-producing region in the US.13

Leafly, Weedmaps and AllBud all describe Purple Urkle as a phenotype selected from Mendocino Purps, and AllBud says this is how it is most often described. Seed sellers repeat the account: Homegrown Cannabis Co. calls its version a Mendocino Purps phenotype selected for resin, sedative effects and fruity flavor.1,2,14,15

What sources disagree on

The Mendocino Purps account is the majority view, but two questions stay open: where Purple Urkle itself came from, and whether Granddaddy Purple descends from it.

QuestionAccountWho says so
Where it came fromA selected phenotype of Mendocino PurpsLeafly; Weedmaps; AllBud; seed sellers including ApeOrigin and Zamnesia1,2,14,16,17
Where it came fromA phenotype of Granddaddy PurpleAllBud, as a less common view2
Where it came fromFirst bred in West Hollywood in the mid-1990s, from purple Afghan landrace linesThe Cannigma, citing the book Cannabis Pharmacy18
Its tie to Granddaddy PurpleA parent, crossed with Big BudWeedmaps; AllBud4,6
Its tie to Granddaddy PurpleNot a parent: Granddaddy Purple is Mendo Purps × Skunk × AfghanistanLeafly, which notes that “other people claim” the Purple Urkle version5

Ken Estes, who popularized Granddaddy Purple in 2003, told Leafly that the plant he started from was called Purple Medicine and that the Pomo had it, up in Humboldt; Estes does not mention Purple Urkle in the interview.5,19

How indica is it?

Every source leans indica, but the labels vary: Leafly classifies it as an indica and rates it mostly calming, AllBud lists 70% indica and 30% sativa, and feminized seed versions from Zamnesia, Pyramid Seeds and United Cannabis Seeds are sold as 80% indica.1,2,17,20,21 Weedmaps files it as a hybrid while describing an old-school indica.14

The clone and the seed versions

AllBud describes Purple Urkle as a clone-only strain kept for California dispensaries, and SeedFinder’s genealogies trace most seed versions back to a clone-only Purple Urkle.2,17,20,22

Seeds sold under the name are newer lines. SeedFinder lists feminized versions from Zamnesia, Pyramid Seeds, United Cannabis Seeds, ApeOrigin and Dr. Blaze; CSI Humboldt’s is a selfed (S1) Purple Urkle, and Zamnesia also lists an autoflowering version crossed with ruderalis.16,17,20,21,22,23,24

What our lab data adds

We matched both spellings, Purple Urkle and Purple Urkel, and excluded 12 test results sold under near-miss names, the largest group being "Mendocino Purple Urkle" (8 tests) followed by "Mendo Purple Urkle" (2).25 A product with that name may not be the same plant: CSI Humboldt’s Mendo Purple Urkle 3.5, for example, is a cross of Mendo Purps #35 and Purple Urkle.12

Strains bred from Purple Urkle

StrainCrossSource
Granddaddy Purple (disputed)Purple Urkle × Big Bud, per Weedmaps and AllBud; Leafly lists other parentsWeedmaps; AllBud; Leafly4,5,6
Orange SherbertOrange Cream × Purple Urkle × Cherry Pie (Barney’s Farm)Leafly7
GobbstopperPurple Urkle × Sin City Kush (Alphakronik Genes)Leafly8
Rip City PurpsGobbstopper backcrossed to Purple Urkle (Alphakronik Genes)Leafly9
Sour Urkle (Sour Purple Urkle)Sour Diesel × Purple UrkleLeafly10
White UrklePurple Urkle × The White (OG Raskal Genetics)Leafly11
Mendo Purple Urkle 3.5Mendo Purps #35 × Purple Urkle (CSI Humboldt)SeedFinder12
Tri-County PurplePurple Urkle × Mendo Purps (CSI Humboldt)SeedFinder26

Gobbilygoo, also from Alphakronik, is a grandchild: Blue Magoo × Gobbstopper.27

Sources

  1. Leafly, Purple Urkle strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  2. AllBud, Purple Urkle marijuana strain information and reviews. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  3. Leafly, Mendocino Purps strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  4. Weedmaps, Granddaddy Purple strain page. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  5. Leafly, Granddaddy Purple strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  6. AllBud, Granddaddy Purple marijuana strain information and reviews. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  7. Leafly, Orange Sherbert strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  8. Leafly, Gobbstopper strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  9. Leafly, Rip City Purps strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  10. Leafly, Sour Urkle strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  11. Leafly, White Urkle strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  12. SeedFinder, Mendo Purple Urkle 3.5 (CSI Humboldt). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  13. Wikipedia, Emerald Triangle. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  14. Weedmaps, Purple Urkle strain page. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  15. Leafly, Eric Brandstad's Purple Urkle feminized (Homegrown Cannabis Co. listing). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  16. SeedFinder, Purple Urkle (ApeOrigin). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  17. SeedFinder, Purple Urkle (Zamnesia). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  18. The Cannigma, Purple Urkle (2020-06-17). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  19. Leafly, Meet the daddy of Granddaddy Purple (2026-07-21). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  20. SeedFinder, Purple Urkle (Pyramid Seeds). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  21. SeedFinder, Purple Urkle (United Cannabis Seeds). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  22. SeedFinder, Purple Urkle (CSI Humboldt). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  23. SeedFinder, Purple Urkle (Dr. Blaze). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  24. SeedFinder, Purple Urkle Automatic (Zamnesia). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  25. Cannlytics (CC BY 4.0), cannabis_results: public state lab results (filtered and aggregated by Official Cannabis). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  26. SeedFinder, Tri-County Purple (CSI Humboldt). Accessed Oct 3, 2026.
  27. Leafly, Gobbilygoo strain information. Accessed Oct 3, 2026.