April 1. 1920 A Teosinte-Maize Hybrid 



appearance. The plants consisted of single culms not in excess of 50 cm. 

 in height with no suckers and with only from 8 to 11 total nodes. The 

 flowering habits also were affected, the simple culms each terminating in 

 a single spike which produced very little pollen, while the pistillate 

 spikes were borne directly in the axils of the upper two or three sheaths. 

 Accompanying the reduction in size and the alteration in appearance 

 was a corresponding reduction in the time elapsing between germination 

 and flowering. Normal plants grown in Florida flower in about 200 days 

 after germination, while the plants raised in the greenhouse flowered in 

 about 70 days. 



The Tom Thumb plants, from seed sown a week or two later, were 

 more nearly normal. Although somewhat reduced in height, the plants 

 produced from 8 to 1 1 nodes, which is the usual range under field con- 

 ditions. The terminal inflorescences were entirely staminate, pistillate 

 flowers being produced only in the normal position. 



Because of lack of teosinte pollen, all the hybrids were made by using 

 teosinte plants as the female parents. Since the greatest number of 

 seeds in a spike never exceeded 6, the quantity of hybrid seed was small. 

 Three teosinte plants were used as female parents, and a total of 1 1 hybrid 

 seeds was secured. All these seeds plainly showed the effect of hybridi- 

 zation, being increased in size until they protruded from the hardened 

 glumes. 



Nine of the 11 seeds were planted at Lanham in the spring of 1914 

 and 5 plants reached maturity, though the production of viable seed was 

 prevented by early frosts. Four of the 5 plants were strikingly similar in 

 appearance, and the structure of the inflorescence was alike in all. The 

 fifth plant, though like the preceding 4 in floral characteristics, was 

 greatly reduced in size; in fact, it was little if any taller than normal Tom 

 Thumb but had numerous suckers. 



The four normal F^ plants were about 18 dcm. high with 6 or 7 suckers 

 arising from nodes below the ground. These suckers usually equaled 

 the main stalks in height. In appearance they were replicas of the main 

 culms, though in time of flowering they behaved like those of maize, being 

 several days later. The branching of the main stalk was not continuous, 

 I or 2 nodes usually failing to develop branches. These branchless 

 nodes were about the eighth or ninth produced. The total number of 

 nodes on the main culm ranged from 17 to 21. The uppermost branch 

 on three of the plants was in the third node from the top, while the 

 fourth plant was similar to pure teosinte in bearing the uppermost 

 branch at the second node. 



The terminal panicles resembled those of maize in that they all had 

 8-rowed central spikes instead of terminating in a 4-rowed branch as in 

 teosinte; but in three of the four plants this 8-rowed spike drooped as in 

 teosinte, while in maize the central spikes are erect. The pistillate spikes 

 of the hybrid were all 4-rowed, with the spikelets paired and the spikes 



