Is Black Cherry Gelato indica or sativa? Its genetics and family tree

The two parents

Acai comes from the original Gelato seeds. Leafly’s Cookies-family genealogy lists “Acai” Gelato 49 among the keepers of the 2014 pheno-hunt, next to Gelato 25, 33, 41, 43 and 45, and GreenState counts #49 Açaí Berry Gelato among the six phenotypes Mario “Mr. Sherbinski” Guzman approves, describing it as tropical and sweet.^2,8 Leafly’s page for Acai Berry Gelato, also called Acai Gelato, gives its parents as Thin Mint Cookies and Sunset Sherbet, names Sherbinski as the breeder and describes a deep purple plant; Sherbinskis lists it with berry notes.^3,9

Black Cherry Funk is the less documented parent. SeedFinder’s family tree writes Black Cherry Gelato as Gelato #49 × (Blueberry × Black Cherry Soda), crediting the Blueberry to DJ Short, and does not name Black Cherry Funk at all.¹⁰ Leafly says Black Cherry Soda is named for its fruity, soda-like taste and unusually dark purple color.¹⁴

One cross, three names

Leafly lists the same two parents under three names. Cherry Gelato, also called Cherrylato, is Black Cherry Funk crossed with Acai, a hybrid Leafly puts at 60% sativa, breeder unknown; Black Cherry Gushers is a cross of Acai and Black Cherry Funk credited to The Standard Cannabis Co and, like Black Cherry Gelato, abbreviated BCG.^1,6,7 Leafly’s Acai Berry Gelato page names both Black Cherry Gelato and Cherry Gelato as its children, and Leafly News found SF Canna selling Cherry Gushers, also given as Acai × Black Cherry Funk, in the Bay Area in September 2024.^3,19

None of these sources says whether the names cover one plant, sibling selections from the same cross, or different crosses that share a label.^6,7,19 Cherry Gelato has its own guide in the Official Cannabis network at cherrygelato.com, and Gushers at gushersstrain.com.

How indica is it?

Sources split three ways. Leafly files Black Cherry Gelato as a hybrid whose effects are mostly calming; AllBud calls it an indica-dominant hybrid, 60% indica and 40% sativa; Weedmaps lists it as an indica with an indica-leaning reputation; Cookies labels it balanced and GrowDiaries calls its BackpackBoyz version a balanced hybrid.^1,4,5,15,18 Its Gelato parent leans the other way: Leafly describes Acai Berry Gelato as sativa-dominant, and GreenState quotes Guzman calling it a sativa-leaning hybrid.^3,8

Brand flower, clone or seed?

SeedFinder lists a single Black Cherry Gelato, from an unknown breeder, and says it was never available as feminized seeds.^17,20 Seeds under the name do exist: Premium Seed Market lists feminized Black Cherry Gelato seeds as Acai × Black Cherry Funk while warning that the flower is hard to find at retail and seeds or clones harder still, and GrowDiaries lists a feminized BackpackBoyz version with one grow diary.^16,21 It is also sold as a brand’s flower: Cookies, for one, sells its own Black Cherry Gelato and gives it as Acai × Black Cherry Funk.¹⁵

What our lab data adds

Our strict matching kept 102 flower tests under the exact name. The name also appeared on 28 lab results for other product types (concentrates 20, shake and trim 5, infused pre-rolls 2, fresh plant material 1) and in 21 longer product names, none of them flower, such as "Church Infused Distillate Black Cherry Gelato Bulk", "ABX Black Cherry Gelato Badder (1g)" and "Mont Verte - Black Cherry Gelato 2 Pack - Flower Pre-rolls (0.5g Each)".²² The flower sample is concentrated: one Nevada lab ran 68.6% of the tests, and 76.8% of the 82 tests that name a producer come from a single producer, so our figures describe a few growers’ Black Cherry Gelato more than every product sold under the name.²²