what? more seeds?

recent sub-freezing temperatures have done in the zea mays parvaglumis and the northern tepehuan teosinte...

one of the two northern tepehuan plants flowered late and while it produced numerous ears they are all far too green to have any chance of containing mature seed...i may harvest then as decoration but they will serve no use in propagating more plants next season...

the second tepehuan plant still has ears that look promising so i brought more in today to husk and dry and flense out the ines most likely to be fertile...

along the way more than one ear has shattered as i tried to harvest it and multiple seeds have hit the ground...i am inclined to leave them there to what ( if anything ) happens in the spring...volunteer teosinte would please me...

the zea mays parvaglumis has a much longer season than the northern tepehuan and, because of the late autumn warmth, this year i have actually found ears outside the stems of the plants...a first...

so i brought some in and was not surprised to find the sub ears all contained nothing but very green seeds...i will let them dry but have little in the way of expectation of viability...

finally i have been taking a look at seed structures and find i can sea a hardened sheath fro a sprout wrapped around the outside of these seeds...