Corn (Latin name: Zea mays L.) is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Corn in the family Gramineae. Alias: corn, stick, bao grain, bao rice, bao corn, yu zizania, bao rice, pearl rice, bao lu, big lu corn, Northeast Liaoning dialect called pearl grain, Chaozhou dialect called Job's tear grains, the Cantonese language called corn, Minnan language called fan wheat.
Corn is an annual monoecious cross-pollinated plants, tall plants, strong stems, is an important food crops and feed crops, but also the world's highest total production of crops, its planting area and total output is second only to rice and wheat. Corn has long been known as a longevity food, rich in protein, fat, vitamins, trace elements, fiber, etc., with great potential for the development of highly nutritious and biologically functional foods. However, because of its genetic complexity, rich in variations, in the conventional breeding process there is a long cycle, the coefficient of variation is too large, affecting the growth and development of the offspring of the shortcomings, and modern biological breeding technology not only overcome the above shortcomings and deficiencies, but also improve the breeding speed and quality.
Corn taste sweet, can do a variety of dishes, such as corn brand, corn juice, it is also the main raw material for industrial alcohol and shochu.
Tall annual herb. Culms erect, usually unbranched, 1-4 m tall, basal nodes with aerial strut roots. Leaf sheaths with transverse veins; ligule membranous, ca. 2 mm; leaf blades flattened and broad, linear-lanceolate, base rounded auriculate, glabrous or blemish-pilose, midvein stout, margins scabrid. Terminal male panicle large, main axis and raceme axis and their axils finely pilose; male spikelets twinned, up to 1 cm, spikelet shanks one longer and one shorter, 1-2 mm and 2-4 mm long, respectively, finely pilose; glumes subequal, membranous, ca. 10-veined, ciliate; lemmas and palea hyaline-membranous, slightly shorter than glumes; anthers orange-yellow; ca. 5 mm long. Female inflorescence subtended by numerous broad sheathlike bracts; female spikelets twinned, arranged in 16-30 longitudinal rows on a stout inflorescence axis, both glumes equal, broad, veinless, ciliate; lemmas and palea hyaline-membranous, gynoecium with a very long and weakly linear style. Caryopsis globose or oblate, exposed beyond glumes and lemmas at maturity, varying in size according to growing conditions, generally 5-10 mm long, slightly wider than long, embryo 1/2-2/3 as long as caryopsis. chromosomes 2n = 20, 40, 80 (Sarma et Sharma, 1986; Molina, 1986). Flowering and fruiting in fall.