THE ORIGIN AND POSSIBLE EVOLUTION 
OF SUB-TASSEL EARS IN MAIZE 
BY 
Watton C. Gauinat! 
MopeERN maize has many vestiges which may reflect 
primitive characteristics of wild maize and its relatives. 
One of the least mentioned and possibly most significant 
rudiments in modern maize is the remains of a spathe 
subtending the lowermost tassel branch or pair of tassel 
branches. Anderson (1951) has described this vestige as 
‘‘a kind of little ridge or scar as if a leaf had started to 
grow out and then had been pulled off."” Sometimes this 
spathe is well-developed and associated with a small sub- 
tassel ear, as is evident in at least two published illustra- 
tions (Hiickel, 1887; Weatherwax, 1916—fig. 10). Such 
an ear near the base of the tassel may be derived from a 
single staminate spikelet (Weatherwax, 1925). 
An examination of over 1000 tassels from varieties of 
maize from North, Central and South America in the 
Maize Herbarium of Dr. Paul C. Mangelsdort revealed 
a series of types ranging from a reduced and sometimes 
adnate spathe subtending the lowermost tassel branch to 
a fully developed leaf borne at a node with a small sub- 
tassel ear. The adnate or vestigial spathe and its deriva- 
tions were found in over 70 per cent of the population 
studied. Sub-tassel spathe development was especially 
Research Fellow at the Bussey Institution of Harvard University. 
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