566 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXVII, N o. 8 
The correlation between the rank of the characters in regard to cor¬ 
relation with type of plant and their rank in regard to correlation with 
degree of lobing is 0.21 ±0.11, which is not a very close agreement. 
Not only are the characters not correlated with the degree of lobing 
in the same order as with type of plant, but the degree of relationship 
also is much weaker with lobing than with plant type. In general, 
however, characters of maize not involved in the crinkly variation are 
found correlated with the crinkly character lobing, clearly indicating 
genetic linkage of these numerous maize factors with the gene for crinkly. 
RAMOSE X TEOSINTE 
Ramose is a variation in which the simple pistillate inflorescence of 
maize has been replaced by a compound structure somewhat resembling 
the tassel. Practically all the seed is borne on branches, the central 
axis bearing seeds only at the apex. In addition to the branched condi¬ 
tion of the ear, the number of branches on the staminate inflorescence 
has been increased at the expense of the central spike, the latter being 
reduced greatly in length. The branches of the tassel decrease regularly 
in length from the base to the tip, and there is little differentiation be¬ 
tween branches and paired spikelets. This gradual decrease in the 
length of the branches gives the tassel a characteristic conical appearance 
easily distinguishable from the normal form. 
The ramose variation, first described by Gemert, was found in a 
field' of the Learning variety (9), and has since been found in a strain 
of sweet corn grown by J. M. Mack of Fallbrook, Calif., ( 12 ). In 
crosses with normal maize this character behaves as a simple Mendelian 
recessive, and reappears essentially unaltered in the second generation. 
In the first hybrids studied the branched condition of the ear and tassel 
behaved as a single character, but in the strain of sweet corn grown by 
Mr. Mack plants were found having typical ramose tassels with normal 
unbranched ears, showing that the apparently single character was 
capable of subdivision or that separate modifying factors existed for 
each inflorescence. 
The ramose ear and relatively unspecialized tassel, as compared 
with the normal maize inflorescences, represent a reversion to a primitive 
type in this one character, and its combination with the nearest wild 
relative of maize might be expected to shed additional light on the 
origin of the present single-spiked pistillate inflorescence of maize. 
The hybrid with teosinte was made using ramose maize as the female 
parent. A few F* plants were raised in the greenhouse at Chula Vista, 
Calif., and 4 he second generation to be discussed is the progeny of one 
of these plants. The remainder of the Fj seed was planted in the field 
with the F 2 , and resulted in 44 plants, all normal with respect to the 
form of inflorescence, which was similar to that of other F t maize-teosinte 
hybrids. 
One hundred and nineteen F 2 plants were grown, of which 29 were 
classed as ramose, the percentage being 24.4 ±2.7. One of these plants 
is shown in Plate 6, A, and the pistillate inflorescences are shown in 
Plate 7. The classification was made before the pistillate inflorescences 
were harvested, and therefore was based entirely on the characteristics 
of the tassel. In these hybrid plants almost every lateral branch ter¬ 
minates in a staminate panicle, and the ramose nature of the tassel is in 
evidence over the entire plant. The fact that these inflorescences are 
