Maize

This article is about the plant and cereal grain also known as "corn" in some English-speaking countries. For other uses, see Maize (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Maze.
Maize

Variegated maize ears
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Monocots
(unranked):
Commelinids
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
Genus:
Zea
Species:
Z. mays
Binomial name
Zea maysL.
Maize (IPA: /ˈmeɪz/) (Zea mays L. ssp. mays), 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, [1] most commercially grown maize has been bred for a standardized height of 2.5 metres (8 ft). Sweet corn is usually shorter than field-corn varieties.