Zea

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Zea
Maize (Zea mays subsp. Mays)

Maize ( Zea mays subsp. Mays )

Systematics
Monocots
Commelinids
Order : Sweet grass (Poales)
Family : Sweet grasses (Poaceae)
Subfamily : Panicoideae
Genre : Zea
Scientific name
Zea
L.

Zea is a genus of plants within the sweet grassfamily(Poaceae). The five to six species are distributed in Mexico via Guatemala, Honduras to Nicaragua . It also includes maize cultivated around the world( Zea mays subsp. Mays ).

description

Vegetative characteristics

The Zea styles are strong annual or perennial herbaceous plants . They grow upright or with a rhizome . The leaves are stem-like. The ligule is membranous. The leaf blades are large, linear and flat.

Generative characteristics

The inflorescences are unisexual, whereby a plant can carry male as well as female inflorescences ( monoecia ). The male inflorescence is a terminal, racemose branched spike . The inflorescence axes are slender and have no nodes . The male spikelets stand in pairs, one sessile and the other stalked. The glumes are herbaceous and multi-veined, the upper and lower flowers are similar and both fertile. Lemma and palea are translucent. There are three lodiculae and three stamens per flower .

The female inflorescence is a single spike that stands in the axilla of a leaf and is surrounded by one or more leaves. The ear axis can be thickened and usually carries two rows of spikelets. The female spikelets are sessile and stand individually on the inflorescence axis. The lower glume is hard, smooth and winged at the tip, the upper is membranous. The lower of the two flowers per spikelet is sterile. The lower lemma, like the lower glume, is smaller and translucent. The upper flower is fertile. Lodiculae are absent. The ovary bears a single long stylus with a scar . The stylus extends beyond the leaves surrounding the piston. In Zea mays subsp. mays , the cultivated maize, the female inflorescence is a massive, thick cob that carries four to 36 rows of spikelets, which are sunk into the cob.

The fruit is a caryopsis .

Systematics and distribution

above: teosinte, below: maize, middle: hybrid of both

The genus Zea was first published in 1753 by Carl von Linné . Synonyms for Zea L. are: Mays Mill. Nom. superflat, corn Adans. nom. superfl., Mayzea Raf. nom. superfl., Thalysia Kuntze nom. superfl., Euchlaena Schrad. , Reana Brign. , × Euchlaezea Jan. Ammal ex Bor .

The wild forms of the genus Zea are grouped under the name Teosinte and were previously placed in a separate genus Euchlaena due to the different appearing inflorescences . However, it has been found that the corn from the earlier than Euchlaena mexicana summarized teosinte forms emerged, especially from the first in 1980 described Zea mays subsp. parviglumis and to a lesser extent also from Zea mays subsp. mexicana . These subspecies are still found in Mexico and Guatemala today .

The five to six species are distributed in Mexico via Guatemala , Honduras to Nicaragua .

There are the following six species and subspecies (as of 2011):

  • Zea diploperennis Iltis, Doebley & R.Guzmán : This endemic occurs only in the southwestern part of the Mexican state of Jalisco .
  • Zea luxurians (Durieu & Asch.) RMBird : It is distributed from the Mexican state of Chiapas to southeastern Guatemala and Honduras.
  • Maize ( Zea mays L. ): The three subspecies are distributed from central and southwestern Mexico to western Guatemala:
    • Zea mays subsp. huehuetenangensis ( Polecat & Doebley) Doebley : It occurs only in western Guatemala.
    • Zea mays subsp. parviglumis Iltis & Doebley : It occurs in the Mexican states of Jalisco to Oaxaca .
    • Zea mays L. subsp. mays : It is the cultivated maize .
  • Zea mexicana (Schrad.) Kuntze (Syn .: Zea mays subsp. Mexicana (Schrad.) Polecat ): It occurs in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and northern Oaxaca.
  • Zea nicaraguensis Iltis & BFBenz : It was first described in 2000 from southwestern Nicaragua.
  • Zea perennis (Hitchc.) Reeves & Mangelsd. This is only endemic in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Jalisco ago

supporting documents

  • Gerrit Davidse: Zea In: G. Davidse, M. Sousa Sánchez, AO Chater: Alismataceae a Cyperaceae. , Volume 6, 1994. Zea at Tropicos.org. In: Flora Mesoamericana . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis (accessed February 4, 2008)
  • Gerrit Davidse: Zea In: Zea at Tropicos.org. In: Flora de Nicaragua . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis (accessed February 4, 2008)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Zea at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed December 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Zea. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  3. ^ Zea in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved February 4, 2008.

Web links

Commons : Zea  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Zea  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations