Corn Silk

AS SUMMER GLIDES INTO SEPTEMBER, I can't help but think about all the fresh produce our area has to offer. Lately, I've been all about the fresh corn-on-the-cob you can find every day at the local roadside stands.

What a delight and taste treat these ears of corn offer, but the story behind this amazing vegetable is equally tantalizing. At least I think it is, and after all, this is my dime.

We are coming to the end of our fresh corn season. I’ve decided to borrow excerpts from an essay I wrote a few years ago and add some further insight from a passage I read a couple of weeks ago by renowned biologist R.W. Kimmerer, all focused on the miracle of pollination and kernel formation.

Stay calm, I’ll keep it understandable for all.

The act of “shucking” corn reveals an array of “secrets" I’m confident most of us were not particularly aware of. This knowledge came to me years ago through my boss's thoughtful tutoring when I was interning at an international seed company in Minnesota.

Did you know corn kernels are formed on the ear at the end of a pollen tube? We commonly call this anatomical feature “silk”. Each row of seeds uses its own pollen tubes (the silk strands) that transfer microscopic pollen grains from the plant’s tassels. All this activity leads to the formation of an ear of sweet corn in 90 days.

Now, to add to my summary, I borrowed my newly discovered author's explanation, which flows as naturally as the wind. 

One end of the silk waves in the breeze to collect pollen, while the other end attaches to the ovary. The silk is the water-filled conduit for sperm released from pollen grains that are caught there. The corn sperm swim down the silken tube to the milky-white kernel – the ovary. Only when the kernels are fertilized will they grow plump and yellow. The corncob is the mother of hundreds, as many children as there are kernels, each with potentially a different father. Each little strand of silk connects a different kernel inside the husk to the world outside.

Think about this phenomenon in nature - It is truly remarkable! It might be right up there with the revelations I found in the pages of Playboy Magazine during my youth.

Enjoy your next ear of corn, as squash and pumpkins will soon be rolling in.