NÁHUATL POEM | EL DÍA BENDITO | EL CICLO DE LA VIDA | LA COSECHA
As far as the origin
of maize goes, the work of John Doebly has already shown it to
be descended from a central Mexican grass, teosinte. Maize and
teosinte can be fertilly crossed. There are numerous differences
between maize and teosinte, (teosinte is multi-branched, the kernels
are enclosed in a hard shell, and there is only a single row of
kernels in each cob). But the genes which confer some of these
traits have been isolated (see references). This does not discount
the possibility of maize being present in the old world before
Columbus, but if it was, it was certainly brought there from the
new world.
J. Emery
Dept. of Plant Pathology
UC Davis
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