Zea mays subsp. mays
Origin: Hawaii
Improvement status: Cultivar
Seeds per packet: ~70
Germination tested 2024: 80%
Life cycle: Annual
We're excited to be offering this Hawaii-bred orange flint corn from the Appalachian Seed Growers Collective. Here's what they say about it:
"A Cateto-like dark orange flint corn developed in Hawaii and brought to North Carolina. Waimanalo Orange started by crossing a number of breeding lines from Jim Brewbaker, a longtime tropical maize breeder in Hawaii focussed on disease resistance, with a breeding population from Frank Kutka, the noted maize breeder [and EFN grower!] from the Upper Midwest. Frank had developed a population based on a number of Cateto varieties from Argentina with a really deep, dark orange color. The combination of dark orange and good disease resistance has been selected after the initial cross for some 10 generations. 'Waimanalo Orange' is somewhat long to mature, flowering at around 75 days after seeding in Boone, NC, and ready to harvest at around 110 days. Its hard, glassy, oily rich kernels are great for cornmeal and polenta. In our two years of growing alongside other Cateto types, we found Waimanalo Orange to be more robust and productive."
