At the proper age of the flower some of this pollen powder passes into the ovary and fertilizes the seeds and makes them good seeds. This is only one kind of flower, however. In this kind the father and mother natures are in the same flower. In other kinds of plants the father and mother natures are found on different parts of the same plant. Why Does an Ear of Corn Have Silk? The corn plant is one of this kind. You know what it looks like--a tall plant, generally six or seven feet high. The ears of corn grow out of the side of the corn stalk. The ear is covered with husks and out of the end of the ear hangs a bunch of brown silk threads which we term corn silk. Up at the top of the plant you will see the tassel, but you may not have known that this is the flower of the corn plant. The tassel or flower in this case contains the “father nature” of the corn plant, and the ear of corn contains the “mother nature.” The husks on the outside of the ear of corn protect the grains of corn on the ear inside and keep them tender. The ear of corn is really the ovary of the corn plant, because that is where the seeds grow. You will guess, of course, that the grains of corn on the ear are but seeds of the plant. Were you to examine one of these ears of corn on the plant when it had just started to form you would find no kernels on the cob, but only little marks which indicated where the grains of corn are expected to grow, but if you want to know, then, how many grains of corn were expected to grow on the ear, you could easily tell by counting the little silk threads which you see on the cob and which stick out over the end. There will be a thread of silk for each grain of corn that is expected to grow. Every grain of corn must receive some of the pollen powder from the tassel or father nature at the top of the corn plant or it will not develop into a nice large, juicy kernel. How Does the Pollen Touch the Grain of Corn? Before the kernels of corn grow the tassel is in bloom. The wind blows and shakes the pollen powder off of the tassel and the powder falls on the ends of the silk which stick out of the little ear of corn to be. Each thread of silk then carries a little of the powder down to the spot on the ear where it is attached and thus the grain of corn receives the fertilizing necessary to develop it into a ripe seed. If you leave the ear of corn alone the kernel will eventually become yellow and hard and can then be planted and will produce other corn plants. Man, however, finds the ear of corn a delightful food, if taken at a time when the seeds are fully grown but not yet ripened into perfect seeds. At this stage the grains of corn would not grow up again if planted, because they have not yet become perfect seeds. Do Father and Mother Plants Always Live Together?