Corn or maize
| Title | Info |
|---|---|
| Common name | Corn or maize |
| Scientific name | Zea mays |
| Taxonomic group | Poaceae |
| Source | Dan L. Perlman |
| Economic botany | Food plants; Industrial products |
| Food plants | Grains and cereals |
| Keywords | Gramineae |
| Date | 1997 |
| Location | Newton,Massachusetts,USA,North America |
Corn or maize tassels. The top of a corn plant is known as the tassel, where the staminate or male flowers grow. Most corn grown in the USA is hybrid corn, produced by cross-breeding two inbred strains. In order to produce the hybrid seed, plants must be prevented from self-fertilizing, so much of the corn used to produce hybrids is male sterile. This New World crop was first domesticated in Mexico; the earliest varieties date from about 7,500 years before the present.
