In preparation for the third annual Sweet Corn Day Celebration, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie is sharing some fun facts about Sweet Corn!
Did you know that sweet corn is pollinated by the wind? The tassel of the plant contains the pollen which is the male reproductive part- whereas the silk strands at the base of the cob is the female reproductive part. When two plants grow close to each other, the wind carries the pollen from the tassels to the silk, effectively pollinating the plant. If that didn’t satisfy your hunger, here are 12 more fun facts to know:
- Sweet corn leaves were used as chewing gum by Native Americans.
- While many consider corn a vegetable, it’s actually both a grain and a fruit.
- Sweet corn cobs always have an even number of rows.
- The tallest sweet corn plant ever recorded was 35 feet and 3 inches.
- An acre of corn eliminates 8 tons of carbon dioxide from our air.
- Corn is grown on every continent except Antarctica.
- The United States produced around one-third of the world’s corn, but only 1% of the corn planted in America is sweet corn.
- Sweet corn comes in all sorts of colors: black, blue, green, grey, purple, red, white, and yellow.
- On average, one ear of sweet corn is 86 calories.
- Sweet corn is cholesterol free.
- Illinois ranks 2nd in the nation for corn production.
- Illinois grows more corn than we can use – 53% of corn grown in Illinois is exported.
Don’t forget, the celebration will be hosted on August 1st in Savanna: see you there!