Leaves alternate, with blades, ligules, and sheaths . Silks -stigmas and styles of individual flowers.
Corn rapidly depletes the soil of nutrients.
Corn's increased use and productivity in this century based on discovery of hybrid corn. More modern concern was how to grow mass quantities of wheat in areas like USA Midwest. Puccinia graminis , named for spore color. Billions of dollars worldwide yearly lost to cereal rusts. Rusts weaken plants and lower yield.