Corn Plant
Corn or Maize, common name for the cereal grass widely grown for food and livestock fodder. Corn ranks with wheat and rice as one of the world’s chief grain crops. The corn plant has an erect, solid stem, rather than the hollow one of most other grasses. It varies widely in height, some dwarf varieties being little more than 60 cm (2 ft) at maturity, whereas other types may reach heights of 6 m (20 ft) or more. The average is 2.4 m (8 ft). The leaves, which grow alternately, are long and narrow. The main stalk terminates in a staminate (male) inflorescence, or tassel. The tassel is made up of many small flowers termed spikelets, and each spikelet bears three small anthers, which produce the pollen grains, or male gametes. The pistillate (female) inflorescence or ear is a unique structure with up to 1,000 seeds borne on a hard core called the cob. The ear is enclosed in modified leaves called husks. The individual silk fibers that protrude from the tip of the ear are the elongated style...