The inflorescence of the monoecious maize plant is unique among the Gramineae in the sharp separation of the male and female structures. The male tassel at the terminus of the plant most often sheds pollen before the visual appearance of the receptive silks of th the female ear at a lateral bud, normally at the 10 leaf I]. Earlier studies examined the ontogeny of the growing tissues beginning with the embryo in the kernel through to the obvious protuberances of the growing point as the kernel germinates. The differentiated developing soon-to-become tassel and the lateral bulges that develop...

The inflorescence of the monoecious maize plant is unique among the Gramineae in the sharp separation of the male and female structures. The male tassel at the terminus of the plant most often sheds pollen before the visual appearance of the receptive silks of th the female ear at a lateral bud, normally at the 10 leaf [I]. Earlier studies examined the ontogeny of the growing tissues beginning with the embryo in the kernel through to the obvious protuberances of the growing point as the kernel germinates. The differentiated developing soon-to-become tassel and the lateral bulges that develop...