It’s just a specialized kind of grass.
That horticultural description applies to almost all grains, but corn is the only one that home gardeners revere, the only one grown for fresh use—in fact, the only grain commonly found in home gardens period.
Does the average American homeowner grow rice or wheat? No. But corn is a ubiquitous icon of summer picnics and autumn harvest baskets. It’s the only common grain of Western Hemisphere heritage, having been domesticated millennia ago in Central America. Corn is the basis of traditional American foods such as cornbread, grits, and tortillas. It’s grown in all 50 states—yes, even Alaska, by very aspirational gardeners—and is the foundation of Mexican cuisine, which was awarded World Heritage status in 2010 largely on the basis of its 6,000-year-old corn tradition….