. The botany of crop plants : a text and reference book. Botany, Economic. 166 BOTANY OF CROP PLANTS Recently East and Hayes have expressed an opinion very similar to that of Montgomery. Quoting from them, "The ear of maize, then, is a meristic variation produced from the central spike of the tassel of the lateral branches of teosinte or of a teosinte-like plant, and not a fusion of the lateral ; Montgomery suggests that teosinte and corn had a common ancestor, which was a "large, much-branched grass, each branch being terminated by a tassel-Uke structure. /l^ glume. J
. The botany of crop plants : a text and reference book. Botany, Economic. 166 BOTANY OF CROP PLANTS Recently East and Hayes have expressed an opinion very similar to that of Montgomery. Quoting from them, "The ear of maize, then, is a meristic variation produced from the central spike of the tassel of the lateral branches of teosinte or of a teosinte-like plant, and not a fusion of the lateral ; Montgomery suggests that teosinte and corn had a common ancestor, which was a "large, much-branched grass, each branch being terminated by a tassel-Uke structure. /l^ glume. Jet of lower -kmma if ' flower •Zud ^lume Fig. 62.—Pistillate spikelet of corn, much enlarged. (After Nees.) bearing hermaphrodite ; He says further: "As evolution progressed, the central tassel came to produce only staminate flowers, these being higher and in a better position to fertilize the flowers on the lower branches. At the same time, the lateral branches came to produce only pistillate flowers, their position not being favorable as pollen producers, while, on the contrary, they were favorably placed to receive pollen. This differentiation in the flowers was accompanied by a shortening of the internodes of the lateral branches until they were entirely enclosed in the leaf sheaths" (the husks). Pistillate Spikelet.—Each normal pistillate spikelet has two. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Robbins, Wilfred William, 1884-1952. Philadelphia : P. Blakiston's Son
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Keywords: ., booka, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbotanyeconomic
