Ear (botany) Ear (botany) An ear is the grain-bearing tip part of the stem of a cereal plant, such as wheat or maize. It can also refer to "a prominent lobe in some leaves". The ear is a spike, consisting of a central stem on which tightly packed rows of flowers grow. These develop into fruits containing the edible seeds. In corn, it is protected by leaves called husks. In some species (including wheat), unripe ears contribute significantly to photosynthesis, in addition to the leaves lower down the plant. A parasite known as "Anguina tritici" (Ear Cockle) specifically affects the ears on
Plant life-form plant functional type, which has recently replaced "life-form" in a narrow sense. Following, some relevant schemes. Based on plant habit: Humboldt described 19 (originally 16) "Hauptformen", named mostly after some characteristic genus or family: Based upon the duration of life and the height of the ligneous stem: Based on the place of the plant's growth-point (bud) during seasons with adverse conditions (cold seasons, dry seasons): Vegetation-forms: Main life-forms ("Grundformen") system: Growth-form system: Main groups of plant life forms: Following, other morphological, ecological, physiological or economic categorizations of plants. According to the general appearance (habit): According to leaf hardness, size and