Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden, South Africa

Family: Poaceae (Grass)

Comments: This variety was bought as an unknown black kernel maize strain in Mexico City market in 2018. We grew it at SUBG in 2019 and discovered that it is immensely tall, reaching over 4m against the side of Tropical House 1.
Tall varieties were traditionally grown in the Americas as part of a Milpa crop growing system, where maize and beans provide complimentary amino acid nutritional profile, with climbing beans actually grown up the stems of maize. In this context, the value of the maize as a trellis for beans offsets the added effort of harvesting maize from such tall varieties.