Maize

Unlike cereals, freshly harvested maize has delicious fleshy kernels, that can be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted as in this picture. This is called "corn on the cob".

Maize, generally known as "corn" in North America, is a domesticated plant, used for human consumption.

Its fruits, called "kernels", lie in rows, on a large "cob". Like cereals, like wheat, barley and oats, its fruits are fertilized by the wind. Maize is not, however, considered a cereal.

Maize was domesticated in America before it was visited by Europeans. The wild plant it was domesticated from had a very small cob, with only dozens of kernels, while modern strains have hundreds of kernels.

Unlike cereals, freshly harvested maize, prior to drying for storage, has delicious fleshy kernels, that can be eaten raw.