142 WrEATHERWAX: MORPHOLOGY OF FLOWERS OF ZEA MAYS 
morphology alone. Guided by size and shape we might select 
from an ordinary tassel a complete series of stamens represented 
at one end by a functional organ and at the other by a degree of 
abortion equal to that which is characteristic of the rudimentary 
stamens of the normal pistillate flower; and between the two 
extremes would be possible monstrous forms. It is only when 
the function of producing mature pollen has been lost that we can 
say that the flower has ceased to be perfect, and it is probable 
that, in some cases, this can be determined only cytologically or 
physiologically. 
But the vital point of the whole question, in so far as evolution 
is concerned, is not the order in which the perfect flowers of a 
pair of tassel spikelets changed into the present pistillate condition, 
nor even the occurrence of occasional functional stamens or pistils 
in flowers of the opposite sex, but in the fact that every flower of 
either sex contains either rudimentary or functional elements of the 
opposite sex. This is the real indication of primitive hermaphro- 
ditism, and the other points only serve to supplement this fact. 
SUMMARY 
1. Normally the maize plant is monoecious. 
2. The male spikelet is two-flowered. Each flower has three 
stamens, two lodicules, and a rudimentary pistil. 
3. The female spikelet is two-flowered, but, in most instances; 
the lower flower is aborted. 
4. In Country Gentleman sweet corn the lower flower of the 
female spikelet regularly functions the same as the upper OM® 
This same phenomenon has been noted in some spikelets of pod 
corn. 
5. The upper female flower has a pistil and three rudimentary 
stamens but no lodicules. : 
6. The lower female flower has a pistil, three rudimentary 
stamens, and two rudimentary lodicules, whether the flower be 
aborted or functional. 
7- Structurally and functionally the silk is a stigma. 
8. Pollination is effected by gravity and the wind. A rela 
tively large amount of pollen is produced. Cross pollination 
the more common occurrence, but self-pollination is possible 2" 
occurs to a certain extent. 
