𝐀 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞?

𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐦 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭!

Thanks to 𝑍𝑒𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑠, an extremely rare wild species!

It was only described in 1979, and is considered critically endangered in the wild. It is restricted to just a few small, isolated populations, confined to the Sierra de Manantlán in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

This maize species is perennial thanks to its rhizomes, and is capable of surviving light frosts!

And although it belongs to the Luxuriantes section, which is distant from cultivated maize, they share the same ploidy level (2n = 20) and are interfertile!

But above all,

𝑍𝑒𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑠 is also interfertile with certain species of the genus 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑚, and it can therefore be used as a genetic bridge between 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑚 and cultivated maize!

This therefore unlocks a access to an entirely new reservoir of genes for perenniality and cold resistance!

Since 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑚 species are perennial and very hardy grasses, some of which are resistant down to –20 °C!

A true Holy Grail! And even more so in Europe!!

This is actually a special line, developed over several generations to make it cultivable in a temperate climate.

To fulfill this role, 12.5% ​​of the genetic makeup is Z. mays. 

It is therefore a hybrid of Z. mays x Z. diploperennis, backcrossed twice with Z. diploperennis.

These plants grow 1.70 to 2 m tall, tiller heavily, and each branch is itself ramified and ends in a male tassel.

Their ears, which are hermaphroditic, are grouped in threes in the axil of each leaf. 

 

They are small and composed of two alternating rows on what is known as an "articulated rachis": the ear breaks apart into individual units, and nothing remains; unlike cultivated maize, which has a spongy cob to which the kernels remain attached.

The kernels are dark brown in color, and comparable in size to those of cultivated maize.

However, their appearance is different: they possess a highly developed cupule (a light-colored, conical structure), which is movable and not required for germination.

This population showed variation, particularly in silk color (pink or white):

And in their ability to develop red pigmentation under cold conditions:

One plant stood out clearly from the others due to longitudinally striped leaves a trait that is known in neither 𝑍. 𝑑𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑠 nor 𝑍. 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑠. I will attempt to stabilize this trait in a separate line in the coming years.

Two weeks after several freezing nights, including three consecutive nights at –5°C / –7°C / –5°C, I cut the plants back.

Although the foliage had been burned by frost, I was surprised by how green the stems still were! I even found a young shoot, perfectly green and alive, protected within the stems!

This was their first year of cultivation, and therefore a year focused on observation and multiplication.

But I still took the opportunity to plant a few emasculated plants in order to begin my hybrid lines!

Including hybrids between cultivated maize and Mexican teosinte (𝑍𝑒𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑝. 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑠 × 𝑍. 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑝. 𝑚𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑎).

And 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑚 𝑑𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠, mainly for observation and experimentation purposes, since hybridization between these two species, what am I saying ? These two genera! Gives better results in the opposite direction (𝑍. 𝑑𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑠 used as the female and 𝑇. 𝑑𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 as the male).

…Although it does seem that a few 𝑇. 𝑑𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 seeds fertilized by 𝑍. 𝑑𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑠 pollen appear perfectly healthy and viable!

During the winter of 2025–2026, I obtained seeds of Tripsacum andersonii, which is the best candidate within the genus for producing viable and fertile offspring, since it is itself the result of an ancestral hybridization with a species of the genus Zea!

It’s a very rare wild species, with a distribution area limited to Cuba and a few South American countries, including French Guiana, from which these seeds originate!

Really looking forward to what comes next!!