Maize seeds. Historical artwork of an ear of maize (Zea mays) surrounded by modified leaves called husks. The yellow seeds of the maize ear (or pistillate inflorescence) are harvested as an important food crop. The pollen from the male part of a maize plant is carried on the wind to land on the red silks (styles) seen protruding from the end of the ear. From here it will fertilise an ovary (female reproductive organ) and develop into a yellow seed kernel. From The Instructive Picture Book or Lessons from the Vegetable World, Charlotte Mary Yonge, 1857.