MAIZE 



MAIZE 



899 



that our cultivated maize is of hybrid origin, prob- 

 ably starting as a sport of teosinte, which then 

 crossed itself with the normal ancestor, producing 

 our cultivated corn. This is speculative, but there 



23 



26 



Fig. 597. Types of kernels of corn, 

 view of thin and tliiek kernels 



1, 2, White dent kernels of poor shape; 3, end 

 4, edge view of thin and thick kernels; 5-7, flour 

 corn of Peril; 8, Tusearora or flour corn; 9-12, sweet corn; 13, Golden Pearl pop- 

 corn; 14, white rice popcorn; 15, white flint; 16, 17, yellow flint; 18-23, white dent ; 

 24-28, yellow dent. Long, wedge-shaped kernels like 9 and 25 permit of much 

 grain in proportion to cob. (Hartley.) 



cannot be any doubt that the close relationship of 

 maize and teosinte points the way to the determi- 

 nation of the botanical characters of the original 

 wild corn plant. Recently, Montgomery has sug- 

 gested a theory as to the nature of the maize ear, 

 in which, in conclusion, he states "that corn and 

 teosinte may have had a common origin, and that 

 in the process of evolution the cluster of pistillate 

 spikes in teosinte were developed from the lateral 

 branches of a tassel-like structure, while the corn 

 ear developed from the central spike. It is probable 



that the progenitor of 



Indian corn (subsequent experiments have not been 

 published) : 



" It may be worth while to inquire whether this 

 Caninacorn still retains a specific identity, whether 

 it really is a distinct species 

 from the common corn, 2ka, 

 Mays. For myself, I am 

 strongly of the opinion that 

 it is not a distinct species. I 

 am rather inclined to think, 

 with the native Mexicans and 

 Professor Duges, that it is the 

 original form of Zea Mays, or 

 at least very near it. It ex- 

 plains many points in the evo- 

 lution of Indian corn. Some 

 varieties of sweet corn occa- 

 sionally produce rudimentary 

 multiple ears, and this Canina 

 seems to tend to lose them 

 under cultivation. The ten- 

 dency of cultivation in all 

 plants is to develop some 

 fruits or some organs, rather 

 than all fruits or all organs. 

 The suckering habit has been 

 discouraged in the selection 

 of corns. The tendency to sucker, the tendency to 

 produce tassels on the ends of ears, the profuse 

 drooping tassels of many little-improved varieties, 

 the predominance of flint corns northward and 

 of dent or pointed corns southward, the occurrence 

 of many curious and aboriginal corns in the Aztec 



27 



as 



Fig. 598. 

 Pod or buslc com. 



these plants was a 

 large, much-branched 

 grass, each branch be- 

 ing terminated by a 

 tassel -like structure, 

 bearing hermaphro - 

 dite flowers." [See lit- 

 erature references at 

 end of article.] 



The Zea eanina of 

 Mexico (first described 

 "in 1890, by Watson) is 

 of great interest in 

 studying the origin of 

 corn. Bailey experi- 

 mented with this plant 

 and made hybrids with 

 forms of cultivated 

 maize. Without com- 

 mitting himself as to 

 the origin of Zea 

 canina itself, he made 

 the following observa- 

 tions (Cornell Bulletin 

 No. 49, 1892) on its 

 possible relations to 



Fig. 599. Swan river corn, grown at Minitonas, Manitoba. 



region — all these become intelligible if Zea eanina 

 is the original of Indian corn." 



Botanical characters. 



Roots. — ^The roots of maize are of two kinds : (1) 

 Those that are formed when the kernel germinates, 

 which develop into the strong underground feed- 

 ing roots ; (2) those that develop in a circle from 

 the lower nodes of the stem, and serve primarily 

 as prop or supporting roots. Before these adven- 

 titious aerial roots reach the soil, they are covered 

 by a copious mucilaginous material, which probably 

 prevents dry air and dry winds injuring the 

 important growing apex. Later these air roots 

 absorb water ard plant-food from the soil into 

 which they penetrate. 



Stem. — The stem of corn, known botanically as a 

 culm, is divided into nodes (knots) and internodes 

 (straight stem parts). The internodes differ from 

 those of most grasses by being solid instead of hol- 

 low. The basal part of each of the lower leaf 

 sheaths is provided with a ring of soft tissue, which 



