ZE A 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



ZE A 



833 





alternate, stalked, ovate-oblong, acute, entire, smooth ; 

 flowers in lax drooping clusters, which in the male appear 

 to be somewhat compound. The herbaceous branching stem 

 appears to climb by means of simple spiral axillary tendrils ; 

 fruit oblong, abrupt, obscurely triangular. Native of Mala- 

 bar and Ceylon. 



Zea; a genus of the^class Monoscia, order Triandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers, disposed in distinct 

 lax spikes. Calix : glume two-flowered, of two ovate-oblong, 

 swelling, pointed, beardless valves, the outermost rather 

 longest. Corolla : glume of two, oblong, beardless valves, 

 about the length of the calix, the outermost swelling, obtuse, 

 the innermost terminating in two teeth; nectary of two very 

 short fleshy scales, dilated upwards, abrupt, furrowed at the 

 summit. Stamina: filamenta three, capillary; antherae some- 

 what prismatic, cloven, bursting at the top. Female Flowers, 

 in a very dense spike, below the male, on the same plant, con- 

 cealed by the leaves. Calix: glume single-flowered, of two 

 permanent roundish thick valves, membranous and fringed 

 at the margin, the outer one thickest. Corolla: glume of 

 four unequal, membranous, transparent, broad, short, per- 

 manent valves. Pistil : germen very small ; style thread- 

 shaped, extremely long, pendulous; stigma simple, downy 

 towards the summit. Pericarp: none. Common Receptacle : 

 very large and long, with five or more angles, and as many rows 

 of cells, transversely excavated, in each of which are imbed- 

 ded the fruits of two flowers, surrounded with their own calix 

 and corolla. Seed: solitary, roundish, stalked, longer than 

 the glumes, angular and compressed at the base. Observe. 

 Two out of the four valves of the female corolla appear to 

 belong to an abortive flower. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Male Flowers, in distinct spikes. Calix: a two-flowered 

 beardless glume. Corolla: beardless. Female. Calix: a 

 glume of two valves. Corolla: of four valves. Style: one, 

 thread-shaped, pendulous. Seeds: solitary, imbedded in an 

 oblong receptacle. Th.e species are, 



1. Zea Mays; Common Maize, or Indian Corn. Leaves 

 entire ; they are sheathing, lanceolate, concave, acute, rib- 

 bed, two or three feet long, and three or four inches broad : 

 root annual, consisting of innumerable fibres; stem erect, 

 somewhat branched, round, stout, jointed, leafy, from five 

 to ten feet high; male flowers in numerous aggregate termi- 

 nal spikes, each three or four inches long, grayish, downy, 

 with purple antherse ; female ones below, in a generally 

 simple cylindrical spike, covered by the large sheaths of the 

 upper leaves ; styles six or eight inches long, very numerous, 

 of a shining yellowish or reddish hue, hanging down like a 

 long silken tassel ; seeds white, yellow, red, or purplish, 

 forming a heavy tesselated cone-like naked spike, from six 

 to ten inches long. There are innumerable varieties, in the 

 size, figure, colour, and qualities of the grain, which, though 

 valuable for many purposes, and yielding an abundant crop, 

 is far inferior to Wheat as bread-corn. Pursh mentions a 

 variety recently imported from a place on the Missouri, which 

 promises to be particularly valuable, as ripening earlier than 

 any other sort, and yielding an excellent produce. Indian 

 Corn is given to horses, cattle, and hogs, without shelling, 

 and only husked in the ear; but when given to fowls, or 

 offered for sale, it is rubbed off by burning a cob in the fire 

 till hard, and then rubbing the corn therewith. It is some- 

 times given to pigs, but oftener, ground, to fowls ; and is the 

 most nutritious grain, except Wheat, either for human sus- 

 tenance, or provender for brute animals. Propagation and 

 Culture. Maize is cultivated in gardens and pleasure-grounds 

 for the sake of its singular tall growth. It may be raised by 

 sowing the seed in the spring, in a dry warm situation, where 



the plants are intended to remain, in patches of two or three 

 seeds or more in each, about an inch and half deep: when 

 they come up, they should be thinned out to one or two of 

 the strongest. But to have the plants more forward, so as to 

 produce ripe seed-spikes more effectually, some should be 

 sown in a hot-bed at the same time, and when the plants are 

 three or four inches high, be forwarded by pricking them out 

 upon another hot-bed, either under a deep frame or an awn- 

 ing of hoop arches, to be covered with mats occasionally, 

 allowing them plenty of free air ; and in May, if they have 

 acquired sufficient growth, they should be transplanted with 

 balls of earth about their roots into the full ground in the 

 borders or shrubbery clumps, in warm sunny situations, 

 being well watered; and when the summer proves warm and 

 dry they often produce perfect heads, and ripen seed well. 

 It is necessary to prop their tall stalks with stakes, whenever 

 they are much exposed to wind and rain. A late writer, 

 (who planted a small quantity of this sort of grain in his 

 garden, which turned out superior to his expectation,) is 

 of opinion, that this crop may be raised to advantage in 

 the field, on some light soils, particularly the poor sands of 

 Norfolk and Suffolk, or on any hot burning lands, because 

 the countries where it grows naturally are light hot soils. He 

 advises the drill method of cultivating it, as the small hillocks ' 

 in planting the seeds separately, make the land unsightly, 

 and improper for other crops. But to raise the greatest pro- 

 duce in corn, he conceives, the hills are the best way; but 

 when the crop is intended for fodder, then drills are to be 

 preferred. The seed is to be covered an inch deep ; when 

 the corn first appears above the surface, the drills must be 

 examined, to see whether it all comes up properly; and if it 

 has not, there must be fresh seeds put into the vacant places, 

 to prevent a loss in the crop. As soon as these fresh plants 

 have taken root in the ground, the crop should be examined 

 again to see whether any have died away, or the birds have 

 taken the seed. The plants must also be thinned to two on 

 a hill, and strong ones substituted for the weak. In the 

 cultivation, while gTOwing in the hill way, the hoe must be 

 often used, and earth frequently given to them, as the land 

 cannot be made too light for this sort of produce : but when 

 it is in drills, hoe it like garden peas. When the corn gets 

 out of the milk, the blades below must be all pulled off while 

 green ; tie them up in small bunches about the size of a birch- 

 broam, and hang them on the top of the stalks of the corn ; 

 for at the same time that the blades are pulled, the tops must 

 be cut off, and set up in round bunches to dry, and tied 

 round the topmost part to keep them from falling; and they 

 must be harvested as soon as they are dried. The blades are 

 generally ready in four or five days, but the tops take longer : 

 when these blades and tops are properly harvested, they are 

 excellent food ; and as this crop will be thus Tiatured, and 

 cleared off, by the end of August, the land might afterwards 

 be ploughed and sown with Rye. The writer, already quoted, 

 is of opinion, that if seeds were required, it would be very 

 proper to sow them at that time on this poor hot land ; as the 

 warm season being over, they would have sufficient time to 

 take root before winter. If only Rye were wanted, it might 

 be eaten with sheep in the spring, or during the winter: but 

 the stalks must stand for the corn to ripen after the rye 

 is sown ; and the corn ought to hang on the stalk till it 

 is hard. ID America, it is often December before the 

 white corn can be pulled, or September for the yellow 

 corn : if it is pulled before it is hard, and the cob is not 

 perfectly dry, it will mould and spoil, and the corn will be 

 apt to rot; hence care should be taken not to pull it 

 too soon. 



