Zea (genus)

Zea (genus)

Zea is a genus of grasses in the family Poaceae. Several species are commonly known as teosintes and are found in Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

There are five recognized species in the genus: Zea diploperennis, Zea perennis, Zea luxurians, Zea nicaraguensis, and Zea mays. The last species is further divided into four subspecies: huehuetenangensis, mexicana, parviglumis, and mays. The first three subspecies are teosintes; the last is maize, or corn, the only domesticated taxon in the genus Zea. The species are grouped into two sections, sect. Luxuriantes, with the first four species, and sect. Zea with Zea mays. The former section is typified by dark-staining knobs made up of heterochromatin that are terminal on most chromosome arms, while most subspecies of sect. Zea may have 0 to 3 knobs between each chromosome end and the centromere and very few terminal knobs (except Z. m. huehuetenangensis which has many large terminal knobs). The two perennials are thought to be one species by some.