Internet Colors - Set of 1035

Cornsilk Color 219 - #FFF8DC

In places outside North America, Australia, and New Zealand, corn often refers to maize in culinary contexts. Ears develop above a few of the leaves in the midsection of the plant, between the stem and leaf sheath. The apex of the stem ends in the tassel, an inflorescence of male flowers. When the tassel is mature and conditions are suitably warm and dry, anthers on the tassel dehisce and release pollen. Maize pollen is anemophilous (dispersed by wind), and because of its large settling velocity, most pollen falls within a few meters of the tassel.

Elongated stigmas, called silks, emerge from the whorl of husk leaves at the end of the ear. They are often pale yellow and 7 in (178 mm) in length, like tufts of hair in appearance. At the end of each is a carpel, which may develop into a "kernel" if fertilized by a pollen grain. The pericarp of the fruit is fused with the seed coat referred to as "caryopsis", typical of the grasses, and the entire kernel is often referred to as the "seed." The cob is close to a multiple fruit in structure, except that the individual fruits (the kernels) never fuse into a single mass.