Corn silk

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Corn silk is a common name for Stigma maydis, the shiny, thread-like, weak fibers that grow as part of ears of corn (maize); the tuft or tassel of silky fibers that protrude from the tip of the ear of corn. The ear is enclosed in modified leaves called husks. Each individual fiber is an elongated style, attached to an individual ovary. The term probably originated sometime between 1850 and 1855. Up to 1000 ovules (potential kernels) form per ear of corn, each of which produces a strand of corn silk from its tip that eventually emerges from the end of the ear. The emergence of at least one strand of silk from a given ear of corn is defined as growth stage R1, and the emergence of silk in 50% of the plants in a corn field is called "mid-silk". The silk lengthens from the basal ovules during the 10 to 14 days previous to growth stage R1; this is due to a change of shape of existing cells rather than their replication. The elongation progresses at 1.5 inches per day at first but gradually slows as the full length is approached. Elongation of a corn silk strand stops soon after a grain of pollen is captured or due to senescence of the silk 10 days after its emergence. If an ovule is successfully fertilized, the corn silk will detach from it two or three days later.