appears to be no evidence of any kind to support the fu- 
sion hypothesis with respect to the ear. Yet fusion does 
occur in maize. It is almost certain that the slightly 
branched styles, the well-known “‘silks’’ are compound 
structures resulting from the fusion of the two stylar 
branches characteristic of grasses.* I have seen several 
cases of fusion of the pedicel of a staminate spikelet with 
the surface of the rachis. And an actual instance of the 
fusion of two of the branches of a maize tassel, the kind 
of fusion which might have given rise to the ear, will be 
described later in this paper. Nevertheless, the fusion 
hypothesis of the origin of the maize ear, though the most 
obvious, and at first glance the most plausible, actually 
appears to have little to commend it. 
Reduction of Branches. The second hypothesis, 
that the ear of maize has been derived from a panicle 
through the reduction of branches until each branch is 
now represented by a pair of spikelets, was suggested by 
Collins (4). But the general theory that spikes are more 
specialized than panicles and have originated from these 
through the reduction of branches is, as Reeves (15) has 
pointed out, an old one. 
This hypothesis would seem to be especially appropri- 
ate when applied to maize whose staminate inflorescence, 
the tassel, is a perfect illustration of a combination of 
spike and panicle, a structure in which the reduction of 
branches either has not proceeded to completion or has 
been confined to the upper part of the inflorescence. 
Furthermore it is not difficult to find extreme forms 
which lend credence to the hypothesis; for example, 
tassels which consist only of central spikes or ears which 
bear well-defined basal branches. 
Collins felt that the chief objection to this hypothesis 
* Cf. Weatherwax (18) p. 123. 
[ 41 ] 
