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| Maize | ||||||||||||
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Zea diploperennis | ||||||||||||
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| ITIS 42268 2002-09-22 Sorting Zea names |
Maize, also called corn in North America and Australia, is a staple food grain from Mesoamerica, species Zea mays ssp. mays. Maize is a direct domesticate of the teosinte Zea mays ssp. parviglumis, native to the Balsas River Valley of southern Mexico, with up to 12% of its genetic material obtained from Zea mays ssp. mexicana through introgression. The term teosinte describes all species in the genus Zea, excluding Zea mays ssp. mays. The proposed role of the related genus Tripsacum in the origins of maize has been widely refuted by modern genetic analysis.
There are regional variations in terminology. In North America, Zea mays ssp. mays is known as corn. In Australia, the term corn is often restricted to sweetcornSweetcorn (or sweet corn, also known as sugar corn , is a hybridized variety of maize Zea mays , specifically bred to increase the sugar content. Sweetcorn is commonly known as simply corn in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The fruit of the swee, with maize or field corn used for other varieties of Zea mays ssp. mays. In other English-speaking countries, the term cornCorn economics Corn is a term that applies to any staple food grain—that is, a fruit of a plant in the Grass Family ( Poaceae). Originally, the term referred to the kernel of any grain; for instance, barleycorn''. In various English-speaking countries, th is used in its older and more general sense to refer to all cereals, but sometimes especially to wheataestivum ''T. aethiopicum ''T. araraticum ''T. boeoticum ''T. carthlicum ''T. compactum ''T. dicoccon ''T. durum ''T. ispahanicum ''T. karamyschevii ''T. militinae T. monococcum ''T. polonicum T. spelta ''T. timopheevii ''T. trunciale ''T. turanicum ''T..
Maize grows to a height in excess of 2.5 m (8 feet) although sweet corn is usually shorter than field corn varieties. The stems look like bambooMany, see text Bamboos are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the grass family Poaceae subfamily Bambusoideae . Some of its members are giants, forming by far the largest members of the grass family. Bamboos are found in diverse climates, from cane and the joints are about a foot and a half distant. The kernel of corn has a pericarp of the fruit fused with the seed coat and a type typical of the grasses. It is close to a multiple fruit in structure, except that the individual fruits (the kernels) never actually fuse into a single mass. The grains are about the size of peas, and adhere in regular rows round a white pithy substance, which forms the ear. An ear contains from two to four hundred grains, and is from six to ten inches in length. They are of various colors, blue, red, white and yellow. When ground into flour, it yields more flour, with much less bran, than wheat does. However, it lacks the protein gluten, and therefore makes baked goods with poor raising capability.
Maize grows much like bulrushes, the lower leaves being like broad flags, three or four inches wide, and as many feet in length; the stems shooting upwards, from seven to ten feet in height, with many joints, casting off flag-leaves at every joint. Under these leaves and close to the stem grows the corn, covered over by many coats of sedgy leaves, and so closed in by them to the stem, that it does not show itself easily till there bursts out at the end of the ear a number of strings that look like tufts of horsehair, at first green, and afterwards red or yellow, the stem ending in a flower. Young ears can be consumed raw, cob, silk, and all; as the plant matures (usually during the summer months) the cob toughens and the silk dries to inedibility. By late August the kernels have dried out and become difficult to chew without cooking them tender first in boiling water.
Maize can also be prepared as hominy, in which the kernels are bleached with lye; or grits, which are simply coarsely ground corn. These are commonly eaten in U.S. Southern States, foods handed down from Native Americans. Another common food made from maize is corn flakes. The flour of maize is used to make cornbread and Mexican tortillas. Teosinte is used as fodder, and can also be popped as popcorn.
As a food, maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) is used in various forms. The most important agricultural groups are:
Maize crops are sometimes prey to a fungus called corn smut, known in Mexico as huitlacoche, which is prized as a gourmet delicacy in itself.
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