88 HarsJiberger. -Maize: 



Zea alba, Mill. 



altissima, Gmel., Hort., Carlsr. 



Americana, Mill. 



canina, Sereno Watson, 1890. 



Caragua, Molin. 



hirta, Bonafous. 



minor, Gmel. 



macrosperma, Klotsch., Bot. Zeit., 1851. 



praecox, Persoon. 



rostrata, Bonafous, Ann. de Lyon, V, 97. 



The word Zea is probably derived from the Greek words 

 £ao> " I live," or £eia (£«0» a sort of grain (spelt) applied as the 

 term for maize when £ea was left unused by the creation of 

 the genus Triticum. Scholars think that the Greeks first 

 called spelt oXvpa, afterward £eia, names which we find in 

 Herodotus (Hdt. 2, 36) and Homer (II. 5, 196 ; 8, 564). 

 Dioscorides (Diosc. 2, 113) distinguishes two sorts of £eia, 

 which apparently answer to Triticum spelta and T. mono- 

 cocci tm. 



Maize is an Arawak word of South American origin (see 

 Philology), from mahiz, marisi, mariky, etc. The name is 

 derived from the Haytian word mahiz, which Columbus 

 adopted when in Hayti. 



Indian Com. — Corn comprehends all the kinds of grain 

 used for the food of men or of horses ; in Scotland it is gen- 

 erally restricted to oats. In the United States it is applied 

 to maize. Those who first landed in America found a new 

 cereal used by the aborigines, and they naturally extended 

 the word corn to this grain also, specifically limiting its 

 use by the prefix " Indian." In the United States, Indian 

 corn is called simply corn. This specific application has 

 been confirmed by a judicial decision in Pennsylvania, in 

 which it was ruled by the court that the word corn is a 

 sufficient description of Indian corn. 



Names for Maize in Various Countries. 



Abyssinia : Mashela bahry, i. e., millet from the sea. 

 Africa: Maheende (Central), mahindi, mase* (Northern). Probably 

 imitations of the word maize. 



Belgium : Mays, Turkisch koorn. 



