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
Offset (botany) Offset (botany) In botany and horticulture, an offset is a small, virtually complete daughter plant that has been naturally and asexually produced on the mother plant. They are clones, meaning that they are genetically identical to the mother plant. They divide mitotically. In the plant nursery business and gardens, they are detached and grown on in order to produce new plants. This is a cheap and simple process for those plants that readily produce offsets as it does not usually require specialist materials and equipment. Offsets form when meristem regions of plants, such as axillary buds or homologous structures differentiate