286 DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



Some of the cultivated species of this order are not known in a wild 

 state. Number of genera, 1,298 ; species, 3,200 ; found in all parts of 

 the world. Our most useful plants belong to this order. The stems 

 and culms of most of species are largely composed of silicates. 



ZEA, L. Flowers monoecious ; staminate flowers in terminal pani- 

 cles ; pistillate flowers in 1-3 axillary spikes ; staminate spikelets 

 2-flowered, with 2 concave glumes, the lower one 3-nerved, the upper 

 one 2-nerved. Palese membranous and without arms, the two col- 

 lateral and fleshy scales glabrous. Stamens 3 in number, and the 

 linear anthers 4-sided. Pistillate flowers with very short glumes 

 on an axillary spike, which is inclosed by many spathe-like bracts; 

 these form the husk by which the fruit is protected. Style simple, 

 very long, thread-like, far exserted, and hanging. 



Z. mays, L. (Indian Corn, Maize.) Stem or culm from 3 to 15 feet high, 1 

 to 2 inches in diameter, composed of bundles of woody fiber imbedded in pith ; 

 the whole inclosed in a smooth, flinty cortex, terete, grooved on one side with 

 a smooth, semi-circular channel, and divided into nodes whose intervals are 

 from 5 to 9 inches long, crowned at the top with a compound panicle of 

 staminate flowers called "the tassel." Root fibrous; the stem throws off 

 aerial roots from the nodes next to the ground, which are called "brace 

 roots." 



The pistillate flowers are borne on a close axillary spike, inclosed in a mass 

 of spathe-like bracts, called " the husks," and are characterized by the elon- 

 gated, filiform styles, which extend far beyond the orifice of the bracts and 

 hang in tresses over the ear or head, like bundles of silk threads ; they are 

 called the "silk," The leaf appears at the nodes, clasping the stalk by striate 

 sheaths, which are eared, from 2 to 4 feet long, and from 2 to 4 inches broad, 

 linear-lanceolate. There are no radical leaves. 



Emit a flat, reniform or cuneate-shaped seed, arranged in rows on the rachis, 

 which is from .'j to 12 inches long, and called the " cob " ; the number of rows 

 on a cob varies from 8 to 14, with from 20 to .50 seeds in a row. The cob 

 ranges from three fourths of an inch to two inches in diameter. 



Flowers in July or August, and ripens its fruit in September and October. 



In common Avith other plants grown from seed, it sports and forms varieties 

 which depart from the specific character in color, size, and shape of the grain 

 and quality of the meal made therefrom. The gourd-seed varieties are in 

 every way larger, and the seeds not so hard and flinty. The flour-corn 

 has reniform seed, but is softer, and is used largely in the Southern States 

 for bread. The gourd-seed A'arieties are raised in the South and West. The 

 eight-rowed flint, both white and yellow, are grown in New York and the 

 eastern Atlantic States north of New York, 



The number of forms resulting from free sporting is very great ; about .30 

 of these are sufficiently characteristic and constant to make species, and would 

 be so regarded if outside of cultivation. 



Geography — Indian corn is now cultivated and is an important crop in all 

 the United States, Upper Canada, Mexico, South America, southern Europe, 

 Africa, and western Asia. It does not grow well above the forty-fifth parallel, 

 but flourishes best below the fortieth, and delights in a hot, sunny clime. 



