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"Maize" vs. "Corn." 1:3 kernel ratios. "Maize" tassels for School of Agriculture grads.
Corn (''Zea mays'') was first grown by Native Americans. It is used as food and many other products.
Corn (''Zea mays''), also called ''maize,'' was first grown by Native Americans. It is used as food and many other products.
It can be grown for both a cash crop and nourishment for people and livestock.
It can be grown for both a cash crop and nourishment for people and livestock.
Corn is an interesting plant for studying genetics, because the individual kernels may display phenotypic variation such as color, are numerous, and are conveniently held together on a single cob. In an ear of corn with two colors of kernel, the number of kernels of each color will often display the classic 3:1 Mendelian ratio.
In 1983, [[Barbara McClintock]] won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for studies of the genetics of corn, specifically her 1948 discovery of mobile genetic elements in the corn genome.
In 1983, [[Barbara McClintock]] won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for studies of the genetics of corn, specifically her 1948 discovery of mobile genetic elements in the corn genome.
==Usage==
The word ''maize'' always means the specific plant ''Zea mays.'' In the United States it much more commonly called "corn," as in corn-on-the-cob. In British usage, "corn" can mean any grain or kernel crop, specifically the staple crop of a particular region. It is important to understand this when reading English novels or studying English history (e.g. the [[Corn laws]]). In formal, academic, or scientific work that is written for an international audience it is common to use the word ''maize'' to avoid misunderstanding.
''Maize'' is also the name for a color, an orange-yellow. According to a custom formalized in 1895, in university graduation ceremonies, graduates of a school of agriculture usually wear maize-colored tassels on their caps.