glume cushion (Plate II). The branching and fusion of 
small bundles is most frequent in the wing area, but such 
changes in the degree of vascularization may occur else- 
where in the rind. There is little doubt that these small 
wing bundles are actually rind bundles. 
Certain extreme features of teosinte, as already noted, 
seem at first to be exceptions to the usually intermediate 
position of teosinte between its putative parents, maize 
and T'ripsacum, as might be expected if teosinte be a 
derivative from a hybrid between these other two spe- 
cies (Mangelsdorf and Reeves, 1939; Reeves, 1958). 
These extreme features of teosinte are a more slender 
peduncle, a shorter spike with less pith, fewer vascular 
bundles, and deeper, more highly lignified cupules, as 
well as more numerous pistillate spikes arranged in com- 
pact clusters. But, on final analysis, all seven of these 
new characters seem to be a hybrid product of combin- 
ing two other characters from maize and T'ripsacum. 
The derivation of these new characters might be as 
follows; If the erect sessile spikelets of 7'’ripsacum should 
be combined with increased lateral compression from the 
tightly binding husks characteristic of the maize ear, the 
spikelets would become more deeply embedded in the 
rachis segment. Reductions in the pith, the vascular 
system and in cell size would follow such extreme com- 
paction, and the smaller cells would accumulate lignin 
during kernel development (Plate ILI, fig. 2). 
The ‘‘clusters’’ of numerous pistillate spikes in teo- 
sinte may also be explained as a recombination of two 
other characters: condensation in the shank (peduncle) 
of maize, which has lateral buds at every node, and the 
small, two-ranked spike of Tripsacum. Although the 
potential for the production of ears at every node along 
the shank occurs in most varieties of maize, it seldom 
develops, because the energy is concentrated into the 
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