purer maize types have a somewhat whorled or random 
arrangement, although there occasionally is a suggestion 
of spiralling. 
Let us suppose that we slit a corn ear down one side 
and spread it flat upon this page. Then an ordinary ear 
with eight rows of grains could be shown as in Figure 
3 A. Each pair of grains arises from a pair of spikelets 
and comprises, with the related parts of the cob, the al- 
icole. The alicoles are arranged in vertical rows, the ad- 
joining rows of alicoles shifted slightly (Figure 4 A). 
The arrangement may be interpreted as being derived 
from a spiral, from a whorled arrangement in which com- 
pression and the forcing of the alicoles into the most com- 
pact order results in the position shift of the vertical rows, 
or even from the fusion of vertical rows of paired spike- 
lets. In ordinary maize, then, ears with eight rows of 
grains have four rows of alicoles, for each alicole bears 
two grains (diagrams Figure 8, and sketches Figure 4). 
In the Coroico race, however, the arrangement differs 
in that, although an ear has eight rows of grains, it also 
has eight rows of alicoles as shown in Figure 4 B. The 
alicoles are placed like bricks, each alicole being covered 
by half of an alicole from the right and half of an alicole 
from the left so that in any row of grains, one-half of the 
row will come from one row of alicoles and the other 
half will come from an adjacent row of alicoles (Figure 
4B). The arrangement of the alicoles in Coroico maize 
and the location of the spikelet pairs upon a fibrous ped- 
estal which is nearly twice as tall as wide, instead of upon 
the ligneous lower ridge of the alveolus as in nearly all 
Ficure 3 (shown on opposite page). Alicole and grain arrangements 
diagramed as though the ear was split open and spread out. 
A. Normal arrangement of 8-rowed ear. 
B. Coroico arrangement of 8-rowed ear. 
C. Coroico arrangement of 9-rowed ear. 
[ 272 | 
