Fun Facts About Corn

Fun Facts About Corn

Corn 
Scientific Name:  Zea Mays 
Nickname:  Maize 
Family: Poaceae 
1. Corn is an annual plant that grows 7 to 10 feet tall. Strong roots called prop roots help support the cornstalk. A tassel grows at the top of each jointed cornstalk and contains hundreds of small flowers that produce pollen. Long, sword like leaves grow outward from the stalk and end in a pointed tip.

2. Ears of corn grow where the leaves join the stalk. A plant normally has one or two ears. Special leaves, called husks, protect each ear. An ear consists of a corncob covered with row of kernels. An ear may have 8, 10, 12 or more rows of kernels.

3. Each corn kernel has what looks like a silk thread that runs from the kernel up the row, and sticks out of the husk at the end of the ear. This thread is called the corn silk. Each silk needs to be pollinated to produce a kernel of corn.

4. Farmers grow corn on every continent except Antarctica.

5. One bushel of corn will sweeten more than 400 cans of Coca-Cola.

6. There are about 800 kernels in 16 rows on each ear of corn.

7. The corncob (ear) is actually part of the corn plant’s flower.

8. The main ingredient in most dry pet food is corn.

9. Corn is America's number one field crop. Corn leads all other crops in value and volume of production.

10. A pound of corn consists of approximately 1,300 kernels.

11. Corn is used to produce fuel alcohol. Fuel alcohol makes gasoline burn cleaner, reducing air pollution, and it doesn't pollute the water.

12. Sweeteners – Corn syrup has replaced imported sugar in a host of products like soda and candy.

13. Animal Feed – Feed for cattle, hogs, and poultry continues to be the largest market for corn.

14. There are approximately 72, 800 kernels of corn in a bushel.

15. 75% of all grocery items contain corn in some processed form. Even when you buy meat, don’t forget the animal the meat came from probably ate corn.

16. Each ton of paper uses 28 pounds of cornstarch!

17. Some corn can grow over twenty feet high.

18. Corn is used 276 ways just to make cookies.

19. In England, one of the Pilgrims’ favorite dishes was hasty pudding. It was made by boiling water and wheat flour in a cloth bag.  But in America they had trouble growing wheat, so they made it with corn flour and called it corn pudding!

20. The Native Americans gave corn to Christopher Columbus, who brought it back to Spain.Once in Europe, corn spread quickly throughout the world.

21. Ears of corn have been found in caves in Mexico that date back seven to eight thousand years.