In expanding the volume of endosperm slightly during the milk stage, both floury genes stretch the pericarp cells and produce the effect of increased tenderness. In increasing water retention in the endosperm, the floury genes extend the period of harvestability and the holding capacity after harvesting; the mature sugary-floury ears are slow to dry.

The floury-1 gene on the short arm of chromosome 2 is incompletely dominant. It is the common floury gene in the varieties native to the Southwest and to most arid areas of Latin America; it occurs in some "Evergreen" sweet maize varieties, and it has been used in at least one parent of some commercial hybrids (Tendermost, Tendertreat and apparently certain other hybrids).

The floury-2 gene on the short arm of chromosome 4 has dominance relative to the background; in some crosses it is recessive. Its distribution in native races of corn is unknown. In combination with sugary, it produces a paler yellow, much sweeter (honey-sweet) and more deeply wrinkled kernel than either floury-1 sugary or sugary alone.

Walton C. Galinat

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