CHAPTER VII. 



VARIETIES AND BREEDS. 



And whene'er some lucky maiden 

 Found a red ear in the husking, 

 Found a maize-ear red as blood is, 

 " Nushka ! " cried they all together, 

 " Nushka ! you shall have a sweetheart, 

 You shall have a handsome husband ! " 



— Hiawatha. 



CHAP. 227. Botanical Varieties. — The genus Zea comprises but a 



single known species, Zea Mays Linn. As is the case with 

 most of the older cultivated plants, the species is very poly- 

 morphous. The various forms of maize are grouped under the 

 ten botanical varieties described below. Of these, five only, 

 flint, dent, flour, sugar and pop-corn, are regularly cultivated 

 for their grain. Sturtevant (2) considered these and two other 

 varieties to be distinct species, but later botanists have not 

 followed him in keeping them separate. 



1. ZEA MAYS L., var. TUNICATA St. Hil. ; [Zea crypto- 



sperma Bonaf, 1836 ; Zea Mays var. vaginata Sturt., 

 1 884 ; Zea tunicata (St. Hil.) Sturt. , 1 894). Pod maize. 



2. ZEA MAYS L., var. PR.ECOX Bonaf., 1S36; (Zea Mays 



Lam., 1823 ; Zea hirta Bonaf. ; Zea Mays var. minima 

 Bonaf. ; Zea Mays var. rostrata Bonaf. ; Zea canina 

 S. Wats., 1 891 ; Zea everta Sturt., 1894; Zea Mays 

 L.var. everta (Sturt.) Bailey, 1902). The pop-corns. 



3. ZEA MAYS L., var. INDURATA (Sturt.) Bailey, 1902; 



(Zea indurata Sturt., 1894). The flint breeds. 



4. ZEA MAYS L., var. INDENTATA (Sturt.) Bailey, 1902; 



{Zea indentata, Sturt., 1894). The dent breeds. 



5. ZEA MAYS L., var. ERVTHROLEPis (Bonafous) Alefeld ; 



{Zea erythrolepis Bonaf, 1836; Zea amylacea Sturt, 

 1894 ; Zea Mays L., var. amylacea (Sturt.) Bailey, 

 1902). Soft maize or flour-corns. 

 27+ 



