Corn

File:1918 Corn poster MFA.jpg

Corn poster
MFA# RES.37.1039

Illustration of Zea mays plant parts

Description

A cereal grain (Zea mays) domesticated in the Americas. Corn is a tall plant that produces rows of edible kernels along an oblong ears growing from a thick stalk. Corn is primarily used as a food product. Extracted products include Corn oil, Corn syrup, Cornstarch, corn flour, and ethanol (whiskey, Gasoline). The stalks have been used as biomass for fuel, and as additives for acoustical tiles, while the corncobs have been carved into smoking pipes and dolls.

Corn Zea mays

Synonyms and Related Terms

maize (Br.); Zea mays; Indian corn; cornstalk; corncob; majs (Dan., Sven.); Mais (Deut.); maíz (Esp.); maïs (Fr., Ned.); mais (It.); Kukurydza zwyczajna (Pol.); milho (Port.); kukuřice (Ces.)

Physical and Chemical Properties

Stem height = 2-3 m with nodes about every 50 cm.

Resources and Citations

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize (Accessed Jan. 15, 2006)