ZEA MAYS 



Indian Corn 



THE MAIZE PLANT 



Peninsula of India, common in the Deccan and Karnatak and the Bombay Pre- 

 sidency, extending north to Rajputana and Banda, in deciduous forest ; also in 

 Burma" (Gamble). 



Kubber. It yields a crude RUBBER, which was found to give the following analysis : 



water, gum, etc., 25' 8 per cent. ; resin, 45' 8 ; caoutchouc, 28' 4. [Cf. Ind. For., 



1903, xxix., 406-7.] The seeds are said to be used as an adjunct to other materials 



in dyeing, while from remote times the Natives of Southern India have employed 



Indigo. the leaves as a source of blue dye or indigo. The root-bark and seeds, though 



of no value medicinally, have been the cause of considerable confusion in the 



literature of Indian Materia Medica, being frequently mistaken for and used to 



Timber. adulterate those of Holarrltena aiitiaysenterlca (see p. 640). The WOOD is 



of good quality for carving and turning, and is fairly extensively used for both 



Idols. these purposes. It is said to resemble ivory in colour and texture, and according 



to Rice (Mysore Gaz., 1897, i., 81) is employed for making the celebrated Chena- 



patna toys and for wooden idols. [Cf. Pharmacog. Ind., ii., 397-8 ; Cameron, 



For. Trees Mysore and Coorg, 1894, 186-7 ; Pharm. Journ., 1901, Ixvii., 690.] 



W. tomentosa, Roem. & Schult. ; Prain, Beng. Plants, 1903, ii., 674. The dudhi, 

 dharauli, sandi-huya, atkura, karingi, selemnyok, pal kurwan, harido, tella pal, 

 lettouk thein, etc. A small deciduous tree " throughout India, chiefly in decidu- 

 ous forests, extending in the Sub-Himalayan tract westwards to the Beas, east- 

 wards to Sikkim ; mixed forests of Burma " (Gamble). 



Every part of the tree discharges, on being wounded, a yellow milky juice, 



Dye. eaid to yield a good yellow DYE when diluted with water. The seeds are reputed 



Medicinal Oil. to afford a medicinal OIL, and both stem and root bark are said to be useful in 



Pot-herb. cases of snake-bite and scorpion sting. The leaves are eaten as a POT-HERB by 



Wood, the Santals. The WOOD is even-grained, easy to work, and used for making 



combe, and in carving and turnery, etc. [Cf. Cameron, I.e. 187 ; Duncan, Dyes 



and Dyeing Assam, 1896, 55.] 



D.E.P., 



vi., pt. iv., 

 326-54. 

 Indian 

 Corn. 



American. 



History. 



ZEA MAYS, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind., vii., 102 ; Bonafous, Hist. Nat. 

 Mais, 1836, tt. 1-19 ; Duthie and Fuller, Field and Garden Crops, i., 21-4, 

 t. v. ; Lisboa, Bomb. Grass., 1896, 43-4 ; Semler, Trop. Agrik., 1902, iii., 

 48-124 ; Prain, Beng. Plants, 1903, ii., 1208-9 ; GRAMINE^E. Maize, 

 Indian-corn, bhutta, makkai, junri, kukri, makai, mungari, junala, chhale, 

 makkd-sholam, mokka jonna, cholam, pyaungbu, etc. 



A tall annual grass, according to De Candolle originally native of New 

 Granada, but now cultivated almost throughout the world. The culti- 

 vated races are very numerous and show great power of adaptation to 

 local environment, so much so that efforts to introduce American forms 

 into India have generally resulted in degeneration towards the existing 

 (now often called indigenous) forms. There seems no doubt that maize 

 came to India from America, and was possibly brought thence direct by 

 the Portuguese. But it appears to have beeen cultivated in India for at 

 least a hundred years before forms were evolved, for each tract of country, 

 of sufficient merit to justify extensive production. When, however, India 

 had obtained its own special forms, maize moved rapidly over the whole 

 continent, assuming tropical conditions in some parts, temperate and even 

 arctic in others. 



History. The admirable account of the origin of this plant furnished by De 

 Candolle (Orig. Cult. Plants, 387-97) leaves little that can be here added of any 

 material value. Maize was unquestionably introduced into India just about the 

 time of the advent of the East India Company, and the first mention in their 

 Proceedings, of what may possibly be this grain, occurs in a letter of date October 

 1621, addressed to the Surat agent by Capt. John Weddell, in which he suggests 

 that a " warehouse be hired at Swally for the temporary housing of the ' chander- 

 ouze ' " (khandarus = an Arabic name for maize) (Foster, Engl. Factories Ind., 

 1906, 296). It is, however, highly likely the khandarus in question was judr and 



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