The maize plant is often 3 m in height, though some natural strains can grow 13 m. The stem is commonly composed of 20 internodes of 18 cm length. A leaf, which grows from each node, is generally 9 cm in width and 120 cm in length.

Ears develop above a few of the leaves in the midsection of the plant, between the stem and leaf sheath, elongating by around 3 millimetres per day, to a length of 18 cm with 60 cm being the maximum alleged in the subspecies. They are female inflorescence, tightly enveloped by several layers of ear leaves commonly called husks.

The apex of the stem ends in the tassel, an inflorescence of male flowers. When the tassel is mature and conditions are suitably warm and dry, anthers on the tassel dehisce and release pollen. Maize pollen is anemophilous (dispersed by wind), and because of its large settling velocity, most pollen falls within a few meters of the tassel.