WHAT IS AN EAR OF CORN? 



61 



rudimentary (Fig. 9). The lodicules are very prominent in the stami- 

 nate flowers, and will usually be found more or less reduced in herma- 

 phrodite flowers, but they entirely disappear in the pistillate flowers. 



Fig. 12. Pistillate Flower of 

 Dent Cork, very young, carpel Dot 

 yet closed, r. Rudimentary lower 

 tlower magnified 65 diameters. 



The lower rudimentary 

 flowers may be found in the 

 pistillate flowers of all types 

 of cultivated corn (Fig. 12). 

 The abortive ovary is soon 

 absorbed, but the palet and 

 glume remain to form a part 

 of the ' chaff ' on the ordi- 

 nary corn cob. 



The development of the 

 central spike into an ear 



Fig. 13. Diagram illustrating 

 Probable Structure of Early Pro- 

 genitor of Corn Plant. 



Fig. 14. Drawing from photograph of a 

 Sweet Corn Plant to compare with Diagram 

 Fig. 13. Note that the number of nodes in the 

 shortened ear-bearing branches corresponds 

 exactly to the number of nodes in the main 

 stem above point of attachment. 



may now be easily traced. First, the 

 pedicellate spikelet in each pair of spike- 

 lets becomes sessile so that we have a pair 

 of sessile spikelets as in Fig. 5, c. Then 

 the upper flower in each spikelet becomes 

 a perfect pistillate flower, while the lower 

 flower in each spikelet becomes an abortive 

 pistillate flower. The pairs of spikelets 

 on the central spike are in four to eleven 

 or more rows, so that by the mere develop- 

 ment of the central spike of the tassel into 



