Final answer:
Corn (Zea mays), a warm climate grass, is a C4 photosynthetic autotrophic plant known for its highly efficient photosynthesis and water use, derived from ancient selective breeding of the wild grass teosinte and typically grown in the fertile soils of temperate grasslands known as prairies.
Step-by-step explanation:
Warm climate grasses like corn (Zea mays), often referred to as maize, are a type of photosynthetic autotrophs that utilize the C4 photosynthetic pathway. This pathway allows them to have a particularly high rate of photosynthesis, coupled with high water use efficiency, making them suitable for growth in regions with warm temperatures and sometimes limited water supply.
Despite its appearance as a unique crop without any close wild relatives, corn's closest wild ancestor is teosinte, a grass that has been genetically modified through selective breeding by indigenous people thousands of years ago, resulting in the modern corn we know today.
These practices started in what is now Mexico. Additionally, the temperate grasslands, also known as prairies in North America, have excellent soil quality and a growing season that accommodates plants like corn, which prospers in areas with adequate summer rains and benefits from winter snows that help decompose plant materials into rich soils.
The spread of agriculture, particularly in the fertile soil of the US Corn Belt, which falls predominantly east of the 100th meridian, has seen much of the tallgrass prairies turned into cropland for maize cultivation.