174 



PLANTS AND MAN 



Maize (fig. 105) is the tallest of the cereals, growing to a 

 height of fifteen feet. Its stems, unlike those of most grasses, are 

 solid and firm; its flowers, also different from those of most 

 grasses, are of two kinds — staminate and pistillate. Staminate 

 flowers, producing the pollen, are clustered on the upper parts 

 of the plant, forming plume-like tassels. The pistillate flowers 



Fig. 105. — Maize is the tallest of the cereals, often growing to a height of fifteen 

 feet; the staminate flowers form tassels at the tips of the stems. 



are arranged on a thickened axis (the cob) and enclosed by leafy 

 husks. Thread-like projections of each pistil extend beyond the 

 husks, and are known as the "silk." In order to have fruit-forma- 

 tion take place, a pollen grain must fall on a strand of the silk 

 and grow through it to the ovary, arranged with hundreds of 

 other ovaries in rows on the cob. Each kernel of corn is therefore 

 a separate fruit. The grains, or kernels, vary in color, shape and 



