Morphology and Physiology of Maize

Abstract

Maize, with Mexico of Central America as its center of origin, has been introduced to Africa more than 500 years ago, possibly through two routes: the island of São Tomé, from where it spread to the West African coast, and by Arab traders crossing the Sahara. Maize anatomy, morphology, and physiology in the temperate environments and {SSA} are basically similar; however, there are striking differences between the two scenarios in maize phenology. Using the attainment of a specific stage by 50\% of the plants under the research condition as the common criterion, maize attains the growth stages at different time periods in the temperate compared with {SSA} environments. This is caused by some differences in their genetic makeup, effects of the environment, and the genotype x environment interaction effects.