Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 79.djvu/352

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348
THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY
Fig. 4. Ear of Boone County White Dent Maize, with perfect flowers. The ear was a very fine specimen.

to type. The ear was about six to eight inches in length and of normal appearance, except that each seed had three fully developed stamens, arising from near the base. The plant, however, was very peculiar in appearance, as shown in Fig. 3. The plants were about five feet in height, the stem short jointed, with broad leathery leaves, resembling tobacco plants as much as corn plants. Professor Emerson, of this station, has had hermaphrodite plants occur in several of his corn hybrids and in all cases they have had this peculiar type of foliage. If this type should be a reversion toward the primitive type it would be of great interest, since we have no grass plant at present having this appearance.

Fig. 5. Cross-section of Ear in Fig. 4, showing stamens at near base of kernels. Practically every kernel had three well-developed stamens.