Painted Mountain Corn: Tassels & Silks

Описание: Learn about the reproduction of Painted Mountain Corn (Zea mays) with me, Dr. Katia Hougaard. I'm sharing a series of videos about growing corn in honour of Native American Heritage month 2025.

Corn is one of the key food crops of indigenous people in the Americas, with the plant holding cultural and spiritual significance as well as serving as a main source of nutrition. According to the latest archeological information, indigenous people of southwestern Mexico domesticated corn from the wild edible grass Teosinte (Z. mays ssp. parviglumis) approximately 9000 years ago.

In this video, we will explore reproduction of corn by looking at the tassels (pollen producing "male parts") and the silks (pollen receiving "female parts"). We will also see how the meeting of these two parts results in ears of corn, which carry the next generation of corn plants in seed form. Of course, some of these seeds will be eaten, since corn seeds are the main part of the plant eaten by humans and livestock.

Music by Derek and Brandon Fiechter

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