玉米

Maize (Zea mays L. ssp. mays, pronounced /?me?z/; also known in some countries as corn), is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents.玉米（Zea mays L. ssp。mays，发音为/？me？z /；在某些国家中也称为玉米），是一种在中美洲驯化的谷物，其后遍布整个美洲大陆。 After European contact with the Americas in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, maize spread to the rest of the world.在XNUMX世纪末和XNUMX世纪初欧洲与美洲接触之后，玉米传播到了世界其他地区。
Maize is the most widely grown crop in the Americas (332 million metric tons annually in the United States alone).玉米是美洲种植最广泛的作物（仅在美国每年就有7亿公吨）。 Hybrid maize, due to its high grain yield as a result of heterosis ("hybrid vigor"), is preferred by farmers over conventional varieties.杂交玉米由于杂种优势（“杂交活力”）而具有较高的谷物产量，因此与常规品种相比，农民更喜欢。 While some maize varieties grow up to 23 metres (2.5 ft) tall,most commercially grown maize has been bred for a standardized height of 8 metres (XNUMX ft).虽然一些玉米品种长到XNUMX米（XNUMX英尺）高，但大多数商业种植的玉米均以XNUMX米（XNUMX英尺）的标准高度进行育种。 Sweet corn is usually shorter than field-corn varieties.甜玉米通常比田间玉米品种短。
The term maize derives from the Spanish form (maíz) of the indigenous Taino term for the plant, and was the form most commonly heard in the United Kingdom.玉米一词源自该植物的本土泰诺语的西班牙形式（maíz），是英国最常用的形式。 In the United States and Canada (ma?s or "blé d'Inde" in French speaking Canadian regions), the usual term is "corn", originally the English term for any grain, as for example in mentions in the Bible, but which now refers usually to maize, having been shortened from the form "Indian corn" (which currently, at least in the US and Canada, is often used to refer specifically to multi-colored "field corn" cultivars).在美国和加拿大（加拿大法语地区为mass或“bléd'Inde”），通常的术语是“玉米”，最初是任何谷物的英语术语，例如圣经中提到的那样，但是现在通常指的是玉米，从“印度玉米”的形式缩短了（目前，至少在美国和加拿大，这种玉米通常专门指多色的“田间玉米”品种）。 In scientific and very formal usage "maize" is normally used globally;在科学和非常正式的用法中，“玉米”通常在全球范围内使用。 equally in bulk trading contexts "corn" is mostly used.同样地，在大宗交易环境中，通常使用“玉米”。 In the UK, Australia and other English-speaking countries "corn" may be used in culinary contexts, especially for products like popcorn and corn flakes, but "maize" is used in agriculture as well as science在英国，澳大利亚和其他英语国家，“玉米”可用于烹饪场合，尤其是用于爆米花和玉米片等产品，但“玉米”可用于农业和科学领域