8 Indiana University Studies 
The pistillate spikelet (Figs. 
4-7) has the same parts as that 
of maize except that the palea 
of the aborted flower is lacking. 
The staminodia usually develop 
a little farther than those of 
maize before disorganization be- 
gins. The glumes and lemmas 
are thick and succulent and not 
at all indurated. When mature 
and dry they are thin and deli- 
cate. 
The upper (adaxial) flower of 
a sessile spikelet of a staminate 
group sometimes develops a 
functional pistil and sets a 
seed. This anomaly often oc- 
curs in several flowers of the in- 
florescence, especially late in the 
fall or when the plants are part- 
ly shaded during development. 
All varieties of the plant that have been observed seem to show 
a marked sexual sensitiveness toward the intensity of illu- 
mination. Varieties producing fifty or more staminate to one 
pistillate spikelet in full summer sunlight may reduce the ratio 
to two or three staminate to one pistillate in the greenhouse 
even in summer, and become completely female in the green- 
house in winter (Figs. 12, 13). 
Fruit . — The characteristic structure of the plant is the 
fruit, which, in a broad sense, consists of the spathe and all 
parts included within it at maturity. It varies greatly in size, 
shape, color, and texture (Figs. 14-18). In some varieties it 
is short and globular; in others it is long and almost cylin- 
drical, or sometimes curved. It may vary from an eighth of 
an inch to half an inch in length, in the globular forms, and 
the cylindrical forms may be much longer. 
The outside of the spathe is usually hard and shining, but 
in some of the cultivated varieties the whole structure is thin 
and husk-like or striated with indurated ridges. The hard- 
shelled types are said to change to soft-shelled types when 
of Coix with staminate portions 
lacking or greatly reduced. 
