Zea nicaraguensis

Zea nicaraguensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Subfamily:	Panicoideae
Tribe:	Andropogoneae
Genus:	Zea
Species:	Z. nicaraguensis
Binomial name
Zea nicaraguensis H.H.Iltis and B.F. Benz 2000

Zea nicaraguensis is a true grass species in the genus Zea. It is considered to be phenotypically the most distinctive, as well as the most threatened teosinte. This teosinte thrives in flooded conditions along 200 m of a coastal estuarine river in northwest Nicaragua. Virtually all populations of teosinte are either threatened or endangered: Z. nicaraguensis survives as about 6000 plants in an area of 200 x 150 m. The Mexican and Nicaraguan governments have taken action in recent years to protect wild teosinte populations, using both in situ and ex situ conservation methods. Currently, a large amount of scientific interest exists in conferring beneficial teosinte traits, such as insect resistance, perennialism, and flood tolerance, to cultivated maize lines, although this is very difficult due to linked deleterious teosinte traits.

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