Zea mays (species)
- Scope note
- Species of cereal plant native to the Americas but introduced to the rest of the world in the 16th century. It is a tall annual grass with a sturdy stalk; it produces rows of edible kernels along an oblong ears growing from the thick stalk. It is known in many varieties having yellow, red, blue, pink, and black kernels, often banded, spotted, or striped. Corn is used as livestock feed, as human food, a raw material in industry, fuel, corn oil, corn syrup, cornstarch, corn flour, and ethanol (whiskey, gasoline). In addition to biomass for fuel, the stalks have been used as additives for acoustical tiles. Corncobs have been carved into smoking pipes; cobs and husks have been used for dolls.
- Date of creation: 02-Dec-2024
Accepted term: 02-Dec-2024