Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Teosinte looks nothing like corn but carries many of the same genes. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Institution, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a food fact?

Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Maize descends from a Mexican grass

Teosinte looks nothing like corn but carries many of the same genes Teosinte is a bushy grass with a handful of hard seeds per ear, and it is the wild ancestor of maize. Farmers in southern Mexico began selecting it about nine thousand years ago, gradually producing cobs with many rows of soft kernels. Genetic studies show that a small number of genes controlling branching and seed packaging did most of the work. It sits in Mondo's food collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Smithsonian Institution

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Science trivia

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Vanilla reached Europe in the sixteenth centurySpanish ships carried cured pods home from Mexico along with chocolate Caesar salad was invented in TijuanaCaesar Cardini assembled it at his restaurant across the Mexican border Cholula's pyramid is the largest ever builtIts base measures roughly 450 metres a side in Puebla, Mexico The monarch butterfly makes the longest insect migrationSome eastern monarchs travel about 4,800 kilometres to Mexico Hurricane Patricia set a record for sustained windIts 345 kilometre per hour winds were measured in October 2015 El Arbol del Tule has the widest tree trunkThe cypress trunk measures about 36 metres around in Oaxaca, Mexico

Tags: maize, teosinte, mexico

Maize descends from a Mexican grass: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Teosinte looks nothing like corn but carries many of the same genes. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Institution, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a food fact?: Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.