USDA has it in their seed bank inventory...that's about it.

Some hobbyists probably have it. It's one of those low-production corns. You might be able to find a European source, though...it's one of the original corns brought over by European explorers.

NPR did a story on it a few days ago and people are looking it for some reason. It's a bit overrated, imo. There's plenty of good flint corns out there for rich tasting corn meal...Leamings Yellow, for instance, which is a better producer.

thanks nc_

will look at leaming yellow, we are not big corn eaters preferring when we do to eat it as sweet corn straight off the plant.

if you hear of where seeds may be bought please let us know.

or any other heirloom varieties.

len

I know that Southern Exposure Seed Exchange sells many open pollinated varieties of corn. As does R.H. Shumways. Although the exact varieties they sell I haven't a clue. Both are American companies, if that matters.

Rodney

Ray's Calais Flint is supposed to be productive and very good for the northern latitudes. I'd be willing to bet that dent and/or southwestern flour heirlooms will do much better for most of australia than any flints.

NC, can you elaborate about early explorers bringing maize cultivars to eastern north america? I didn't think that was possible, since maize did not reach Europe until after the first colonizing attempts of the Spanish in florida or the English in the northeast?

According to this link otto file is an heirloom from northern italy, so no way that early explorers brought it to eastern north america before the 19th century:

Here is a link that might be useful: eight-file

Here is the NPR article.

Clearly new england eight-row was one of the many hyper-adapted regional cultivars being used by the northeastern tribes when the English colonists first began to arrive. Rhode-Island white flint is another famous one, associated with the "johnnycakes" and nearly lost at one point but now also being produced on small scale. I grew it one year but it is not nearly as productive as Hickory King dent. If the climate allows dent than a flint will not compete. The climate here has changed since 1600, or else the Wompanoag and Narraganset did not have access to the dent cultivars used around the Chesapeake and southward.

Here is a link that might be useful: original flints

"NC, can you elaborate about early explorers bringing maize cultivars to eastern north america? "

To Europe...I mean. Sorry, that was clear as mud.

"You might be able to find a European source, though...it's one of the original corns brought over by European explorers."

...I should have said "brought back by European explorers"

Whew, I thought one of us had lost their mind!