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Flower structure 6 - Maize Maize (Zea mays) The flowers are unisexual, containing either stamens or ovary but not both. The long, crowded inflorescences bear flowers of only one sex. The male inflorescences are on terminal branches and the female inflorescences are lower down, on lateral branches. The male flowers are small, and enclosed by green, leaf-like bracts. The flowers are in pairs; each pair is called a spikelet which is enclosed by two bracts. Two smaller bracts enclose three stamens. When mature, the anthers hang outside the bracts. The female inflorescence is completely wrapped in a small number of leaves and forms the ‘cob’. The female spikelets are arranged spirally on the inflorescence stalk. Each flower is enclosed by thin transparent bracts. The female flower consists of an ovary with a single ovule, and a long style which protrudes from the top of the cob. Maize is a cereal of considerable economic importance. It is closely related to wild grasses whose flowers differ from it by having both male and female organs. male inflorescence female inflorescence leaf base encircles stem root system Maize plant anther to show position of male and female inflorescences bracts enclosing a pair of flowers and forming a spikelet Part of male inflorescence © D.G. Mackean