Chap. IX. MAIZE. 321 



dible that a wild species, when first cultivated, should vary so quickly and 

 in so great a degree. 



Maize has varied in an extraordinary and conspicuous manner. Metzger, 52 

 who paid particular attention to the cultivation of this plant, makes twelve 

 races (unter-art) with numerous sub-varieties; of the latter some are 

 tolerably constant, others quite inconstant. The different races vary in 

 height from 15-18 feet to only 16-18 inches, as in a dwarf variety de- 

 scribed by Bonafous. The whole ear is variable in shape, being long 

 and narrow, or short and thick, or branched. The ear in one variety 

 is more than four times as long as in a dwarf kind. The seeds are 

 arranged in the ear in from six to even twenty rows, or are placed irre- 

 gularly. The seeds are coloured — white, pale -yellow, orange, red, violet, 

 or elegantly streaked with black ; 53 and in the same ear there are 

 sometimes seeds of two colours. In a small collection I found that a 

 single grain of one variety nearly equalled in weight seven grains of 

 another variety. The shape of the seed varies greatly, being very flat, 

 or nearly globular, or oval ; broader than long, or longer than broad ; 

 without any point, or produced into a sharp tooth, and this tooth is 

 sometimes recurved. One variety (the rugosa of Bonafous) has its seeds 

 curiously wrinkled, giving to the whole ear a singular appearance. Another 

 variety (the cymosa of Bon.) carries its ears so crowded together that it 

 is called ma'is a bouquet. The seeds of some varieties contain much glu- 

 cose instead of starch. Male flowers sometimes appear amongst the female 

 flowers, and Mr. J. Scott has lately observed the rarer case of female 

 flowers on a true male panicle, and likewise hermaphrodite flowers. 54 

 Azara describes 55 a variety in Paraguay the grains of which are very 

 tender, and he states that several varieties are fitted for being cooked in 

 various ways. The varieties also differ greatly in precocity, and have 

 different powers of resisting dryness and the action of violent wind. 56 Some 

 of the foregoing differences would certainly be considered of specific value 

 with plants in a state of nature. 



Le Comte Be states that the grains of all the varieties which he culti- 

 vated ultimately assumed a yellow colour. But Bonafous 5 ? found that 

 most of those which he sowed for ten consecutive years kept true to 

 their proper tints ; and he adds that in the valleys of the Pyrenees and 

 on the plains of Piedmont a white maize has been cultivated for more 

 than a century, and has undergone no change. 



* The tall kinds grown in southern latitudes, and therefore exposed to 

 great heat, require from six to seven months to ripen their seed ; whereas 

 the dwarf kinds, grown in northern and colder climates, require only from 



« 'Die Getreidearten,' 1841, s. 208. 54 ' Transact. Bot. Soc. of Edinburgh,' 



I have modified a few of Metzger's vol. viii. p. 60. 



statements in accordance with those M 'Voyages dans l'Amenque Meri- 



made by Bonafous in his great work, dionale,' torn. i. p. ]47. 



' Hist. Nat. du Mais,' 1836. 5 Bonafous' ' Hist. Nat. du Mais,' 



53 Godron, ' De 1'Espece,' torn, ii, p. 31. 



p. 80; Al. De Candolle, idem, p. 951. 57 Idem, p. 31. 



VOL. I. Y 



