8 kempton: ancestry of maize 



course, in pod corn as in the normal maize from which it mutated, 

 two kinds of branches, those with shortened internodes borne 

 on the upper part of the plant, known as ears, and the more or 

 less elongated lower branches known as tillers or suckers. As 

 is well known, the latter are frequently similar in all respects 

 to the main stalk and may terminate in an entirely staminate 

 panicle. In making the statement that staminate flowers had 

 not been found on the branches of pod corn, Collins was refer- 

 ring to the upper branches, while Weatherwax in contradicting 

 this observation is undoubtedly referring to the basal branches, 

 or suckers. The imputation that suckers have been confused 

 with independent plants would hardly occur to one familiar 

 with genetical methods. 



Another fundamental difference between pod corn and 

 teosinte, which, through an apparent misunderstanding. Weather- 

 wax has attempted to discredit, is the occurrence of branches 

 in the axils of prophylla. Collins' statement that such branches 

 w^ere the rule in teosinte and had not been observed in pod corn 

 meets with the disapproval of Weatherwax, who states that he 

 has frequently observed such branches which can be induced 

 by the destruction or injury of the terminal bud. As has been 

 previously stated, Weatherwax fails to understand the funda- 

 mental distinction between prophylla and bracts, which may be 

 due to the fact that the differences are of such a miagnitude as 

 to be easily detected with the naked eye and as such come under 

 the heading of "gross morphology." 



That all branches are enclosed in prophylla does not mean 

 that they are borne in the axils of such prophylla, since these 

 leaf -organs are borne on the short basal joints of the branches 

 which they enclose ! In Euchlaena and in some types of maize, 

 branches are developed from buds in the axils of prophylla, as 

 well as from buds in the axils of leaves and husks, but in pod 

 corn we have never found such prophyllary branches. Sec- 

 ondary branches in the axils of husks are easily induced in almost 

 any type of maize by preventing the development of the ear, 

 but we have never succeeded in forcing the development of 

 buds in the axils of prophylla. In view of the evident mis- 



