Zea - Teosinte

The teosintes are a group of large grasses of the genus Zea found in Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

There are five recognized species of teosinte: Zea diploperennis, Zea perennis, Zea luxurians, Zea nicaraguensis and Zea mays. The first three subspecies are teosintes; the last is maize, or corn, the only domesticated taxon in the genus Zea.


Species
Zea mays. Maize, known as corn in some countries, is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents. After European contact with the Americas in the late 15th and early 16th century, maize spread to the rest of the world.
Maize is the most widely grown crop in the Americas (270 million tonnes annually in the United States alone). Hybrid maize, due to its high grain yield as a result of heterosis ("hybrid vigour"), is preferred by farmers over conventional varieties. While some maize varieties grow up to 7 metres (23 ft) tall in certain locations, most commercially grown maize has been bred for a height of 2.5 metres (8 ft). Sweet corn is usually shorter than field-corn varieties.

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