Development of the Staminate and Pistillate Inflorescences of Sweet Corn '

Studies of the morphology of the corn plant have led, according to Weatherwax (17) j^ to clearer and simpler explanations of the results of certain experiments with corn. It should be expected that further studies of the developmental morphology might prove to be equally helpful. Variations from the normal sequence of development which lead to abnormalities of the tassel and ear and variations in such characters as length of ear, number of rows of kernels on the ear, irregularities in the straightness of the rows of kernels, and correlation in the development of the ears of multiple-eared types, to mention a few examples, can be better understood by studying the developmental morphology. By means of frequent observations during the development of the growing points it is possible to see whether the variations observed in the mature plant are the result of variation in the pattern of differentiation and development or are the result of growth responses to changes in the environment. While excellent descriptions of the morphological development of certain of the parts of the inflorescences have been written, some of which will be cited later, few workers have attempted to describe and illustrate all of the steps in the ontogeny of the staminate (tassel) and pistillate (ear) inflorescences. In this paper the major steps in the development of the tassel and ear from the undifferentiated growing points of the shoots to the fully differentiated flowers and flower parts are described and illustrated with photomicrographs.