Summary
In this first of three sections of an attempted synthesis of the more important hypotheses concerning the manner in which domesticated maize originated, the salient features of these hypotheses are compared. The morphological and genetical evidence on which they are based is reviewed and background information concerning the archaeological evidence is presented. In the succeeding two sections archaeological discoveries relating most directly to maize origin will be evaluated and varied interpretations of their significance and that of the morphological and genetical evidence will be discussed in attempting a synthesis of currently divergent views.
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This is the first section of a tripartite series prepared as an updated version of a paper presented at a 1973 symposium entitled “The Origin of Maize and its Relatives,” sponsored by the Botanical Museum of Harvard University. Continuing financial support and research facilities made available at the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are gratefully acknowledged, as are the facilities for cytotaxonomic research on American Maydeae provided by CIMMYT’s International Maize Improvement Program, the travel grant from the American Philosophical Society for collection of maize relatives in the West Indies, and research facilities provided by the Fairchild Tropical Garden.
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Randolph, L.F. Contributions of wild relatives of maize to the evolutionary history of domesticated maize: A synthesis of divergent hypotheses I. Econ Bot 30, 321–345 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02904654
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02904654