Corn cultivation/botanical characteristics.

Dear readers, in our blog we have always dealt with aspects related to the family of grasses or forage poaceae, this time we will begin to describe a species that is of great economic importance worldwide because it is an item that has multiple benefits for food security, we refer to the cultivation of corn that adapts to different soil and climatic conditions in our country Venezuela, for example, in the geographical area where we are where there are high percentages of rainfall throughout the year and a few meters above sea level.

In relation to the stem, we will begin by pointing out that it is a plant of erect growth and can reach in some varieties heights of approximately 2.50 to 3 meters, it is a cylindrical stem that has no branches, but if you can see nodes from where the leaves emerge, the space between the nodes are called internodes.

The leaves are arranged alternately on the stem, i.e., they sprout one per node, with one leaf coming out from one side and then changing sides at the next node, thus alternating along the stem as shown in the following image.

The leaves of this plant like all families of grasses or poaceae are composed of a sheath that serves as a kind of support for the leaf, a membrane called ligule and of course the lamina or blade that we identify as the leaf. The leaves are lanceolate, that is to say, they are pointed like the shape of a spear and can reach a length of approximately 80 cm.

The root system of corn is well structured since it is made up of support roots and roots that go a little deeper in search of nutrients and water, within the support roots there are some that appear in the nodes of the stalk that are close to the ground and as its name indicates its function is to provide support to the plant.

The corn plant is monoecious because both the male inflorescence and the female flower are found in it. The male inflorescence can be easily appreciated when the plant reaches its reproductive stage, since it is an open panicle that is found in the upper part and where pollen is produced.

In the intermediate part of the stalk, the female flower can be seen, which is the cob that is formed with female flowers, something characteristic of the cobs when what is commonly known as the beard of the cob is observed, which are the styles that have the function of taking the pollen grains produced by the same plant or by another and leads it to the flowers inside the cob for fertilization. Some researchers point out that plants rarely use their own pollen, but that pollination is cross-pollinated because the pollen comes from another plant.

When the beard of the cob begins to emerge it is an indicator that the plant has begun to produce pollen and when the beard turns purple it is an indicator that the female flower has been fertilized and from there they begin with the formation of the grain which is widely used for the production of flour among other uses since they contain a high content of carbohydrates.

Dear readers, we hope that the information provided in this article will be useful and above all very educational, taking into account that, although sometimes we have empirical knowledge about some agronomic practice, this type of technical information will allow you to know a little more about some aspects that you may not know.