Corn ls Maize

Corn ls Maize

This is a kernel of corn. It is a corn seed. Kernels of corn are planted in a small hill of good earth.

The sun shines down on them. spring rains water the soil. The hard seeds soften and sprout.

A leaf appears and a stalk begins to grow. More leaves come from joints called nodes. A corn stalk shoots up fast. Farmers say that on a quiet evening they can hear the corn growing.

By midsummer, the plant is taller than a farmer. Husks have begun to sprout from the nodes. A husk is a bundle of leaves tightly wrapped around strands of silk. The corn silk is the female part of the plant. Tassels grow like a hat at the top of the stalk. The tassels are the male flowers.

In the summer breeze, clouds of tiny grains of pollen blow from the tassels. The pollen falls on the silk of neighboring corn plants. Each pollen grain pollinates the strand of silk it sticks to. After fertilization, a kernel of corn will grow at the end of each strand.