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Long filamentous threads protruding at the end of a young cob of maize are -
A
Anthers
B
Styles
C
Ovaries
D
Hairs
Detailed Solution
Maize is a monoecious plant: the male flowers are borne in the tassel at the top of the plant, and the female flowers are borne on the cob.
Each female flower of the cob has an ovary with a very long, thread-like style ending in a stigma.
These long styles of all the flowers hang out together from the tip of the young cob as a tuft of silky threads, commonly called corn silk or the tassel of the cob.
They are feathery and sticky, which helps them to trap the wind-borne pollen grains; maize is wind pollinated.
The anthers are in the male inflorescence, and the ovaries lie inside the cob and later form the grains.
So the long filamentous threads are the styles (with stigmas).
Each female flower of the cob has an ovary with a very long, thread-like style ending in a stigma.
These long styles of all the flowers hang out together from the tip of the young cob as a tuft of silky threads, commonly called corn silk or the tassel of the cob.
They are feathery and sticky, which helps them to trap the wind-borne pollen grains; maize is wind pollinated.
The anthers are in the male inflorescence, and the ovaries lie inside the cob and later form the grains.
So the long filamentous threads are the styles (with stigmas).