374 



CORIARIA 



ing branches imitating pinnate Ivs., and with very 

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

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

 C. Japdniea has proved hardy with slight protection in 

 Massachusetts, and G. 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. 



Jap6nioa, Gray. Shrub, 2-3, sometimes to 10 ft.: 

 branches quadrangular : Ivs. nearly sessile, ovate or 

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



terminilis, Hemsl. 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. Sikkim, 

 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.myrtifblia.lArm. Shrub, 4-10 ft.: Ivs. 3-nerved, glabrous: 

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

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

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

 black. Himal.— O. sarmentbsa, Torst. Suffruticose, procum- 

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

 Wineberry shrub of the natives. The berries yield a pleasant 

 drink, but the seeds are poisonous. ALFRED Eehdeb. 



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

 Pop Com in front (X K) . 



COBE is the name applied to the outer impervious 

 part of the bark in plants. In Uuonymus Thunbergi- 

 anus, the English maple, the corky barked elm, and 

 other trees and shrubs, it forms wings on the branches. 

 The cork of commerce comes from the bark of Quercu3 

 Ilex (better known as Q. Suber), plantations of which 

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

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

 solely for ornament. -^ly. -w. Rowlbb. 



COEW, MAIZE (SWEET 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, JEJuchlcena Mexicana, 

 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, remains to the 

 present time its almost exclusive designation through- 

 out the English-speaking portions of the continent. It 

 now holds first rank among the agricultural 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 other kinds, which are more strictly 

 agricultural, are called field Corns, but in some locali- 

 ties sweet Corn and pop Corn are also found under field 

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

 neries, the latter to supply the comparatively 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 monotypic genus, its one 

 species being Maize. But Maize is an extremely vari- 

 able species, including groups which are separated by 

 definite characteristics. As a working classification, 

 that proposed by Sturtevant is the best which has yet 

 appeared. He describes 7" agricultural species." 

 These are Zea tunicata, the pod Corns ; Z. 

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

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

 Z. amylacea, the soft Corns ; Z. saceharata, the 

 sweet or sugar Corns (Eigs. 551, 552) ; Z. amylea- 

 saoeharata, the starchy Sweet Corns. Zea Mays, 

 Linn., belongs to the natural order of grasses 

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

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

 of staminate fls.(thetassel) ; internodes grooved 

 on one side : branches ear-hearing or obsolete : 

 Ivs. long, broad, channeled, tapering to the pen- 

 dulous tips, with short, hyaline ligules and 

 open, embracing sheaths: fis. 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 pistillate 

 fls. on a hard, thickened, cylindrical spike or 

 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 saecharata, 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, 

 green field Corn having largely occupied its place prior 

 to that period. 



Sweet Corn is preeminently a garden vegetable, al- 

 though the large 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 



