CORN, Teosinte
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$2.00
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Zea mays Subsp. parviglumi
Seeds per pack ~ 25 .
Germination ~ 96% February 2021
DISCOUNTED SEED Old Germination Date $2 per packet
Teosinte (pronounced tay-oh-SIN-tay) is the wild ancestor of corn. Native to Mexico and Central America, there are multiple species of this special plant, including a some that are perennial in the tropics. This species is native to the western escarpment of Mexico, from Nayarit to Oaxaca. It can cross with corn, but this is much more likely to occur with hand pollination than from just being grown in proximity to each other — and it's apparently much more likely for teosinte genes to make their way into a corn population than the other way around (due to a gene or gene cluster known as ""teosinte crossing barrier1"", or ""tcb1""). So if you save corn seeds, or you know you have neighbors who do, you should think twice about growing teosinte near corn. On the other hand, if you're a plant breeder and you're interested in corn, this is certainly a fun plant to play around with.