340 



CEREALS. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



INDIAN CORN-(ea Mays.) 



Stem terminated by the clustered, slender spikes of staminate flowers 



(the tassel) in two-flowered spikelets; 

 the pistillate flowers in a dense and 

 many-rowed spike, borne on a short 

 axillary branch; (the ear) two flowers 

 within each pair of glumes, but the 

 lower one neutral, the upper pistillate 

 with an extremely long style, (the 

 silk.) Stem strong, jointed, five to 

 fifteen feet high, with large, alternate 

 leaves starting from each joint, mo- 

 noecious and annual. 



Each plant bears from one 

 to six or eight ears which are 

 cylindrical, and enclosed with 

 a covering of leaves called 

 shucks or husks. The centre 

 of the ear is pithy called cob, 

 and on the cob are arranged rows of grain, numbering 

 from eight to thirty-six ; usually twelve to fourteen rows. 

 The number of grains in a row is usually thirty to forty. 

 These grains are rounded on the outer surface, flattened on 

 the sides, and the germ is near the point, and from the 

 germ a long, silk or style extends under the husk to the end 

 where they all unite in a silky cluster. The pollen from 

 the tassel falls upon these silks or flowers, thus fertilizing 

 the grains. Without this pollen the seed would not ger- 

 minate nor would the ear be completed, as may easily be 

 tested by cutting off the tassel before the silk appears. On 

 a bright day the pollen may be seen in the sunshine, rising 



