It is superficially similar to, but actually quite different 
from, a condition which Anderson (1944b) has designated 
as ‘‘condensation,’* in which there is a telescoping of in- 
ternodes to the extent that two or more pairs of spike- 
lets appear to arise at the same node. Condensation is 
common in the maize of Mexico and Central America. 
The spikelets on the single specimen from Stratum 
III had their glumes sparsely covered with prickles. 
The three specimens from Stratum IV comprised two 
fragments and one intact tassel. The first, a fragment of 
a central spike, had its glumes covered with short hairs 
and prickles and showed neither condensation nor multi- 
plication. The second, a fragment of a branch, had its 
glumes sparsely covered with hairs and prickles and 
showed both multiplication and condensation. It in- 
cluded 12 nodes upon which were borne 37 spikelets, 13 
more than should have occurred in the absence of both 
multiplication and condensation. One of the extra spike- 
lets was the result of multiplication; the others, 6 pairs, 
were the consequence of condensation. The condensa- 
tion ratio is, therefore, 1.5. 
The intact tassel in this stratum comprised a lax cen- 
tral spike and three branches. Its glumes were covered 
with hairs and prickles, and the tassel showed neither 
multiplication nor condensation. It is the kind of tassel, 
which, among living varieties, is found only in early- 
maturing types. 
The single specimen found in Stratum V_ had its 
glumes covered with long hairs. The fragment included 
21 nodes and was free of both condensation and multi- 
plication since there were no extra spikelets at any node. 
No pistillate spikelets were found in any of the frag- 
ments or in the intact tassel. 
So far as these few tassel specimens have any bearing 
upon the problem of evolution in maize, they suggest, 
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