Maize cobs typically have an even number of rows — it’s a cool quirk of plant biology—. Regardless of the variety, kernels rows follow a predictable pattern, with most types having between 8 and 20 rows. This happens because of the way maize develops, ensuring the total number of rows is almost always an even number.

Schnable, P. S., Ware, D., Fulton, R. S., Stein, J. C., Wei, F., Pasternak, S., Liang, C., Zhang, J., Fulton, L., Graves, T. A., Minx, P., Reily, A. D., Courtney, L., Kruchowski, S. S., Tomlinson, C., Strong, C., Delehaunty, K., Fronick, C., Courtney, B., Rock, S. M., … Wilson, R. K. (2009). The B73 maize genome: complexity, diversity, and dynamics. Science (New York, N.Y.), 326(5956), 1112–1115. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1178534

Author: Martí Soto Puig