i2go Rural School Leaflet 



THE CORN PLANT 



Anna Botsford CoxMstock 



jVERYsludcnt of i)lant life is interested in corn, one of the most 

 beantifvil plants in the world. It is a native of America, and 

 the first white men who came to these shores found it exten- 

 sively cultivated by the Indians. In studying corn it is 

 well to keep before the pupils' minds that its worst enemy 

 is the wind, which lays it low; it has therefore been 

 obliged to develop certain forms of stalk, leaf, and root that 

 enable it to withstand wind. 



The cornstalk is a strong cylinder with a pithy center strengthened 

 at short intervals by hard nodes, or joints. If all the stalk were as com- 

 pact and rigid as the nodes, it would be inelastic and would break instead 

 of bend; as it is, the stalk is elastic and will bend far over without break- 

 ing. The nodes are near together at the bottom, thus giving strength 

 to the base; they are farther apart at the top where the wind strikes 

 the stalk and forces it to either bow or break. 



The corn leaf is attached to the stalk at a node, and its base clasps the 

 stalk completely for some distance, thus rendering the latter stronger. 

 Just where the leaf bends away from the stem is a little growth, which 

 fits tightly around the stalk and is called the rain guard, since it pre- 

 vents rain from seeping down between the stalls and the clasping leaf, 

 where dampness would harbor destructive fungi. 



The structure of the corn leaf is especially adapted to escape injury 

 from the wind; the strong veins arc parallel, and there is a flexible but 

 strong midrib at the center. Severe windstorms injure only the tips 

 of the leaves. The edges of the leaf are ruffled; this allows for a sidewise 

 movement without breaking the margins. 



The true roots of the corn plant penetrate the soil rather deeply, but 

 they are hardly able to hold firm a stalk so slender and tall as that of 

 the corn when the wind blows fiercely against it. Hence all about the 

 base of the stalk are certain roots called brace roots, the oflfice of which 

 is to hold the stalk erect. 



Each fertile cornstalk has two kinds of blossoms, staminate and pistillate. 

 The staminate flowers, those that bear the pollen, appear at the tip of 

 the stalk. They are called corn tassels and consist merely of anthers 

 filled with pollen. The pistillate flowers are those that develop the seed 

 and are called the ears of corn. They consist of many little w^iite o\ailes 

 set on a central stalk, or cob, and each ovule has a long style, called the 

 corn silk. These pistillate flowers are very delicately wrapped about with 

 leaves, which are changed to the soft protective clothing called the husks. 



