374 



CORIARIA 



ing branches imitating pinnate Its., and with very 

 showy yellow, red or bhicli fr. The Ivs. of some species 

 are used for tanning leather ; the frs. are poisonous. 

 C. Japdnica has proved hardy with slight protection in 

 Massachusetts, and C. terminalis seems to be of the 

 same hardiness ; the other species are more tender. 

 They grow in almost any good garden soil, and prefer 

 sunny position. Prop, readily by seeds and greenwood 

 cuttings in summer under glass ; also by suckers and 

 layers. 



Jap6nica, Gray. Shrub, 2-3, sometimes to 10 ft.: 

 brandies quadrangular : Ivs. nearly sessile, ovate or 

 ovate-lanceolate, 3 nerved, smooth, 2-4 in. long : tls. in 

 axillary racemes from the branches of last year: fr. be- 

 coming bright red in summer, changing to violet-black 

 when ripe. Jap. B.M. 7509. G.F. 10:343. 



terminalis, Herasl. Herbaceous or suffruticose, 2-3 

 ft. : branches quadrangular : Ivs. nearly sessile, broad- 

 ovate to ovate-lanceolate, ,5-9-nerved, scabrous on the 

 veins beneath, 1-3 in. : fls. in terminal racemes on 

 shoots of the current year : fr. bright yellow. Sikkira, 

 China. — A very ornamental plant, keeping its yellow fr. 

 from July until late in fall ; being herbaceous, it is 

 easier to protect from frost than the former. Recently 

 introduced into cult, as C. Nepalensis. 



C.myrti'fblia, hinn. Shrub, 4-10 ft.: Ivs. 3-nerved, glabrous: 

 fls. greenish, from the old wood: fr. black, poisonous. Medi- 

 terranean region. Yields a black dye.— C. Nepalensis, Wall. 

 Shrub, 8-10 ft. : Ivs. 3-5-uerved, glabrous : fls. brownish : fr. 

 black. Hlmal.— C. sarmentdsa, Forst. Suffruticose, procum- 

 bent : racemes axiUary, on young branches. B.M. 2470. The 

 Wineberry shrub of the natives. The berries yield a pleasant 

 drink, but the seeds are poisonous. ALFRED Rehder. 



551. Kernels of Corn on the cob— Sweet Corn behind. 

 Pop Com in front (X K). 



COKE is the name applied to the outer impervious 

 part of the bark in plants. In Jiuonymns Thiinbergi- 

 niius, the English maple, the corky l.arkcil ilm, and 

 other trees and shrubs, it forms wing's on tlu' br:inches. 

 The cork of commerce comes from the liark of (Jiiercus 

 Ilex, (better known as Q. Suber}, pliintations of which 

 grow in southwestern Eu. The cork tree of the cata- 

 logues, Phellodendron Amurense, is a curious tree, cult, 

 solely for ornament. -^y, ^ Rowlee. 



CORN, MAIZE ISWEET and POP). A tender annual, 

 cultivated in America from prehistoric times. The 

 word Maize, Spanish Maiz, is derived from the name 

 Mahiz, which Columbus adopted for this cereal from the 

 Haytians. Maize has not yet been found truly wild. 

 Its close relation to Teosinthe, Euchtana Mexicaita, 

 Schrad., is indicated by the known fertile hybrids, or 



CORN 



cross-breeds between Teosinthe and Maize. Teosinthe 

 and the only other species which show close botanical 

 relationship to Maize are indigenous to Mexico. Bota- 

 nists now almost unanimously concede that Maize origi- 

 nated in America, and it is probable that it is indige- 

 nous to Mexico. See Zea. 



The white settlers early learned from the American 

 Indians the use of Maize as an article of food. Several 

 Indian names for certain preparations which they 

 adopted or adapted, have passed into the language of 

 the American people, as, for example, samp, hominy, 

 succotash. They cultivated Maize both as a staple field 

 crop and in the garden under the name of Indian Corn, 

 which name, or the .simple name of Corn, riinains to the 

 present time its almost exclusive desi:;nation tlirough- 

 out the English-speaking portions of the cciitini-nt. It 

 now holds first rank among the agricultur;d products of 

 the United States in the area devoted to its cultivation, 

 and in the value of the annual crop. The kinds now 

 commonly found in garden culture are sweet Corns and 

 pop Corns. The oMirr kinds, which are more strictly 

 agricultui:il, .-111- c-;,ll.d li.id Corns, but in some locali- 

 ties swert ( '.)! II ;iihI [Hip ( 'urn are also found under field 

 culture, the former cither as a truck crop or for can- 

 neries, the latter to supply the coraparati .'ely limited 

 demand in domestic markets. Sweet Corn and Pop 

 Corn only will receive special attention in this article. 

 Botanical Classification. — Zea almost uniformly 

 has been called by botanists a mouotypic genus, its one 

 species being Maize. But Maize is an extremely vari- 

 able species, including groups which are separated by 

 definite ■■liar.ictiristics. As a working classification, 

 that proposi-il by .stnrtev;int is the best which has yet 

 appi':ired. He <lescribes 7 "agricultural species." 

 These are Zea timicata, the pod Corns ; Z. 

 everta, the Pop Corns (Fig. 551); Z. indurata, 

 s the Flint Corns; Z. indentata. the Dent Corns; 



Z. amyhii; II. the soft Corns; Z. saccharata, the 

 sweet or sugar Con IS (Figs. 551, 552 1 ; Z.amyUa- 

 sacchnratii , the st;ii-chy Sweet Corns. Zea Mays^ 

 Linn., belongs to the natural order of grasses 

 or Gramiueee. Culms 1 or more, solid, erect, 

 lJ^-15 ft. tall, or more, terminated by a panicle 

 of staminate fls. ( the tassel ) ; iuternodes grooved 

 on one side: brancties ear-bearing or obsolete: 

 Ivs. long, broad. .■li.Lniicifd. tapering to the pen- 

 dulous tips, witli shcirt, hyaline ligules and 

 open, embracing shc:vths: fls. monoecious, awn- 

 less, usually proterandrous ; staminate fls. in 

 clusters of 2 to 4, often overlapping ; one fl. 

 usually pediceled, the other sessile or all ses- 

 sile: glumes herbaceous ; palea membranaceous; 

 anthers 3, linear. The ear contains the pistillatt 

 fls. on a hard, thickened, cylindrical spike oi 

 spadix (cob), which is enclosed in many spatha- 

 ceous bracts (husks); spikelets closely sessile. 

 in longitudinal rows, paired in alveoli with 

 hard, corneous margin; 2 fls. on a spikelet, the 

 lower abortive ; glumes membranaceous; style 

 single, filiform, very long (silk) ; ovary usually 

 sessile. Ear variable in length and size, often 

 distichous; grain variable in shape, size and 

 color. See Plate VII. 



Sweet Corn {Zea saccharata, Sturt. Figs. 

 551,552.). — A well-defined species-group, charac- 

 terized by horny, more or less crinkled, wrinkled 

 or shriveled kernel, having a semi-transparent or trans- 

 lucent appearance. Sturtevant in 1899 lists 61 distinct 

 varieties. He gives the first variety of Sweet Corn re- 

 corded in American cultivation as being Introduced 

 into the region about Plymouth, Mass., from the In- 

 dians of the Susquehanna in 1779. Schenck, in 1854, 

 knew two varieties. It appears, therefore, that the dis- 

 tribution of Sweet Corn into cultivation made little pro- 

 gress prior to the last half of the nineteenth century, 

 gri'on field Corn having largelv occupied its place prior 

 t.. tli:it period. 



Sweet Ciirn is preeminently a garden vegetable, al- 

 though the liirge kinds are sometimes grown for silage 

 or stover. As a garden vegetable, it is used when it has 

 reached the "roasting ear "stage, the kernel then being 

 well filled and plump but soft, and "in the milk." The 

 kernel is the only part used for human food. When 



