310 WEATHERWAX: THE EVOLUTION OF MAIZE 
“our maize is of hybrid origin, probably starting as a sport of 
teosinte, which then crossed itself with the normal ancestor, 
producing our cultivated corn.’’ Characterizing these earlier 
theories is Hackel’s suggestion, made (16, p. 20) as early as 1889, 
that the female spike of corn was evolved by monstrous fasciation, 
from a number of parts like the lateral branches of the male 
inflorescence. In 1906 Montgomery (24) described a theoretical 
ancestor of maize and pointed out the fact that the ear is not the 
fasciated homologue of the lateral branches but the equivalent of 
the central spike of the tassel. Mrs. Kellerman had given a 
similar interpretation of the case in 1895, but her article (22) 
seems not to have been available to many botanists. In 1912 
Collins made the point (9, p. 525) that the homology between the 
ear and the central spike of the tassel is inconclusive, because the 
central spike of the tassel is as anomalous and as hard to explain 
as is the ear. He discussed two theories as to the structure and 
origin of these organs and favored the idea that they are the results 
of fasciation. According to his theory, ordinary maize originated 
as a hybrid between teosinte and some plant possessing the char- 
acters of pod corn. In 1912 East (12) discussed the origin of 
maize and said that he agreed, in a way, with both Collins and 
Montgomery. 
These are the more comprehensive discussions of the subject, 
but the discovery of an abnormal ear or tassel, a new variety, or 
an unusual habitat for the plant has, from time to time, been 
enough to provoke a new theory or a modification of an old one. 
The present status of the question may be summarized as 
follows: most of the evidence concerning the evolution of maize 
has come from a comparison of its gross morphology with that of 
its near relatives, and from a study of hybrids between maize and 
-teosinte; the ear of corn is generally supposed to be a fasciated 
structure; two theories are now held as to the origin of the plant— 
(1) that maize and teosinte have descended along slightly different 
lines from a common ancestor, and (2) that maize originated ina 
cross between teosinte and some closely related grass. 
But in a detailed examination of maize and its near relatives, 
we meet with many inconspicuous but significant organs which 
have not thus far been considered in any theory of the evolution 
