previously limited to the coast, but is now spreading 
rapidly to the interior where Guarani maize was grown 
(Plate XX XV, H, I). The tight husks prevent much 
damage to the growing or stored ears and the hard flint 
grains resist weevils. There has been much active and 
intelligent work carried out in the selection of improved 
varieties of Cateto. Much of the seed grown by that 
name throughout Brazil originated in the State of Sao 
Paulo and may be contaminated with North American 
maize. The ears have 12 to 16 rows of flattened, not 
isodiametrical, grains, are slightly tapered and have an 
enlarged base, although this may not be evident in 
some ears. 
Altiplano maize 
Altiplano maize is widely distributed throughout the 
higher or less favorable parts of the Andes from Argen- 
tina and Chile to Ecuador and probably Colombia. 
Altiplano maize plants are small and early, with few 
leaves and tassel branches, occasionally with one or two 
tillers, and nearly always with red or purple plant color 
on leaves and culms. The ears are small and nearly 
spherical, averaging about 14 rows of grains although 
often these rows cannot be distinguished until the grains 
are removed and the arrangement of the alicoles studied. 
The grains vary from hard pop to soft flour, with a wide 
assortment of endosperm, aleurone and pericarp colors, 
and grain shapes from nearly spherical through ovoid, 
pointed, beaked, imbricated and, very rarely, minutely 
dented. 
When plants are grown under adverse conditions or 
near their growth limits, it is difficult to distinguish be- 
tween the effects of environment and heredity. The small 
plants and nubbin-like ears of Altiplano maize (Plate 
XXXVI, A, B) resemble those produced under ad- 
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