Vol. 45 No. 8 
BULLETIN 
OF THE 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB 
The evolution of maize 
PauL WEATHERWAX 
(WITH THIRTY-SIX TEXT FIGURES) 
The ancestry of Indian corn, the place of its origin, and its 
relation to other plants of its family have been the subjects of 
extensive study and discussion. As a New World contribution 
to science and agriculture, the maize plant found, after a time, 
its present systematic position, and it has made its way into a 
place of prime importance in the economic life of the world. 
When first seen by the civilized explorers of this country, maize 
was a cultivated plant; and no wild form of it has ever been found. 
Theories maintaining that it was of Old World origin have been 
shown to lack sufficient proof, and it is now very generally be- 
lieved to have originated somewhere in the plateau region of 
Mexico or Central America. 
Concerning the ancestry of maize a number of different theories 
have been advanced. In 1892 Bailey (1) expressed the opinion 
that Zea canina, which had been described a short time previously, 
was the progenitor of maize. Harshberger’s work (17), published 
in 1893, was also based upon the assumption that this was the 
primitive maize plant. The latter authority and others have since 
shown that Zea canina is a hybrid between teosinte and ordinary 
maize. In 1911 Harshberger (20, pp. 51-52) described, as the 
theoretical ancestor, a plant whose inflorescence would resemble 
that of Tripsacum; and in 1912 he suggested (21, p. 399) that 
[The Bulletin for July (45: 259-308. pl. 8) was issued August 9, 1918.] 
309 
