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More on Maize and Its Growth. Corn or Maize – Zea mays. Zea mays subsp. mexicana. Zea mays subsp. mays. Variation in ear size and kernel color from Mexican landraces of corn. Steps from Teosinte to Maize.
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Corn or Maize – Zea mays
Zea mays subsp. mexicana Zea mays subsp. mays
Variation in ear size and kernel color fromMexican landraces of corn
Steps from Teosinte to Maize • Maize cobs do not shatter (fall apart) whereas teosinte ears shatter when mature • Each teosinte grain is netled in a hard, deep floral structure the cupule and covered by a hard sheath (the glume). The grains of corn are naked and held outside a collapsed cupule • Each teosintecupule contains a single fertile spikelet; maize cupules have two fertile spikelets • Teosinte cupules are arranged in 2 ranks (rows) but maize are in 4 to 10 rows • Teosinte has long primary branches that each ends in a male tassel and there are numerous tiny ears along each branch. Maize has short primary branches that end in a single ear – only a few ears per plant; male tassel at apex of plant
Benefits of Three Sisters Mounds • In the Northeast where ground was frequently cold and damp in early spring, mounds allowed the soil to warm up and drain more quickly • Mounds allowed an increase in soil organic matter by repeatedly incorporating dead plant material with soil in mounds • Decomposition of dead plant material increased soil nutrients; also growing beans which are N-fixers increased soil N for all plants in the mound • Mounds minimized soil compaction (people did not walk on mounds, but around them) and reduced soil erosion as fields were not constantly plowed or dug up • Mound system allowed easy regulation of plant spacing and plant populations