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(Photo: starch) |
Corn plants produce male flowers at the top and female flowers in the middle of the stalk. When the male pollen falls, it fertilizes the female flowers, resulting in the formation of corn kernels. This explains why corn cobs often appear in the middle of the plant. However, occasionally, you will encounter corn plants with cobs at the top.
Corn (maize) belongs to the grass family and originates from the subtropical highlands of Central and South America. It has since been introduced worldwide with numerous varieties.
In its early stages, corn was a plant that had both male (stamens) and female (pistils) reproductive organs within the same flower. Over time, through natural selection and human cultivation, corn has gradually evolved: the pistils in the flowers at the top have degenerated, and the stamens in the flowers along the stalk have also weakened. These degenerated reproductive organs still show remnants of their existence, but under normal conditions, they do not develop. Only when certain conditions are met, such as prolonged sunny days or abnormal growth of the male flowers, do corn plants produce cobs at the top. This phenomenon is known as “reversion.”
