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Job's Tears: A Wild Grass That Produces Nature's Most Perfect Bead Also See Teosinte

From time immemorial, creative people have fashioned attractive bead jewelry from all sorts of natural objects. The variety of natural beads is only limited by one's imagination, including polished bone, tusks, teeth, vegetable ivory, sea shells, precious gemstones, seeds and amber. Although seeds probably require the least amount of preparation for bead production, they still need to be polished and drilled or pierced--a tedious and time-consuming process. But there is one remarkable seed called Job's tears that is already polished and has a hole through it. This perfect bead is produced by a tall, roadside grass (Coix lacryma-jobi) that grows like a weed throughout the Old and New World tropics.

The common name Job's tears refers to the droplet-shaped, pearly white "beads," and to the biblical man of the Old Testament who endured great suffering. This relationship to tear drops is also reflected in the specific epithet lacryma-jobi, in reference to the tear-producing lacrimal glands located near the eyes. Although there is unanimous agreement that the beads resemble tears, there appears to be some disagreement as to exactly whose tears the beads resemble. Depending on exactly where you happen to be in the world, this plant goes by various names including David's tears, Saint Mary's tears, Christ's tears (Lacryma Christi), and just plain tear drops.

Interestingly enough, the actual beadlike structure resembling a seed is not a seed at all. It is a very hard, hollow structure (called an involucre) containing a minute fertile female flower and two sterile flowers. Pollen-bearing male flowers are produced on a slender stalk that extends out of the bead through a tiny pore. Two feathery stigmas from the fertile female flower also protrude from the pore--ready to receive pollen from the male flowers. Like other members of the enormous Grass Family (Poaceae), Job's tears are pollinated by the wind. Following pollination, a seed-bearing grain is produced by the fertile female flower. The shiny gray beads are dispersed and planted like seeds, but they are actually remarkable little shells containing flowers and grains.

Native to tropical Asia, Job's tears (also called Adlay) are used for food, particularly by peasants of the Far East. The distinguished 17th century naturalist Georg Eberhard Rumphius stated that in his day Job's tears were planted in Java and Celebes on the margins of rice fields. According to Agnes Arber (The Gramineae, 1965), Job's tears were introduced into China in the first century A.D. by a Chinese general who conquered Tongking, where the grains were widely used as a cereal. The general became so fond of Job's tears that he carried back several cartloads of the seeds to his own country.

Like other cereals, there are many cultivars of Job's tears, including soft-shelled, easily-threshed types with a sweet kernel. In some, the hulled grain is adapted for parching or boiling like rice, while in others it can be milled, ground into flour and baked into bread. Reportedly, the grain has a higher protein content than most cereals. The grains are also utilized in soups, porridge, drinks and pastries. In India, the Nagas use the grain for brewing a beer called zhu or dzu. A Japanese variety called "Ma-Yuen" is brewed into a tea and an alcoholic beverage, and roasted seeds are made into a coffee-like drink. According to Agnes Arber, the leaves are used as fodder in parts of India, and are especially relished by elephants.

But of all the uses for Job's tears, probably the most important is bead jewelry. Over the years Mr. Wolffia has made a large collection of seed necklaces from tropical regions of the world, and roughly twenty percent of his collection contain Job's tears, often mixed with other colorful seeds. This is undoubtedly because Job's tears grow so prolifically throughout these regions, often as a wayside weed, and the beads are plentiful and easy to string. Their natural color is pearly white, but they can be readily dyed shades of red, blue, green and yellow. In addition to attractive bead necklaces, belts, bracelets and earrings, they are also made into lovely rosaries with a cross at one end. In Central America, strings of Job's tears are commonly used for the arms and legs of quaint little seed dolls. Although the practice seems somewhat questionable, strings of Job's tears were reportedly given to teething babies.

Another remarkable use for Job's tears is for musical instruments. Shaker gourds are probably one of the earliest musical instruments. In Africa, hollow gourds are covered with a loose net strung with hundreds of Job's tears. As the beads slap against the gourd a loud shaker sound is produced--as good as any modern instrument for this purpose. Using the neck of the gourd as a handle, the sound of the bead net is amplified by the hollow gourd.

Job's tears are easy to grow in temperate climates and make an attractive annual in summer gardens. Sprays of the plant can be cut and dried for indoor bouquets. They are tied in small bundles and hung upside down in a shaded, dry, airy place until thoroughly dry. The beads can be dyed and strung into all sorts of creations. They can be worn as necklaces, or fashioned into bead curtains or colorful wall decorations. Vegetable and aniline clothing dyes are not very effective in dying the woody beads. The most vivid colors can be achieved by dipping or spraying them with primary color wood stains or quick-drying enamels. For durable, pliable necklaces that will not become brittle with time, ordinary dental floss works better than nylon fishing line. To facilitate the stringing process, a sewing needle threaded with dental floss can be inserted through each bead. In whatever creative way you display them, Job's tears are bound to make an interesting and unique conversation piece.

Job's tears are closely related to corn or maize (Zea mays). In fact, both species belong to the Grass Tribe Tripsaceae, along with a robust, perennial forage grass called gamagrass (Tripsacum). In corn, the grains are crowded together on a cob surrounded by a leafy husk. Male flowers are produced in a tassel that extends above the ears. In the Mexican grass teosinte (Zea mexicana or Zea mays ssp. mexicana), considered by many botanists to be the ancestor of modern corn, each grain is enclosed in a tough shell (cupule) similar to Job's tears. The tiny "ear" of teosinte consists of a single row of six or more grains. Through selective breeding over many thousands of years by native people, the outer shell encasing individual grains was gradually eliminated and the naked, many-grained modern corn plant was produced. In the region where teosinte grows wild, the native people call it "madre de maíz" or "mother of corn."

Teosinte (Zea mexicana): A. Male Inflorescence (Tassel) B. Female Inflorescence (Ear)     With Outer Husk & Silk C. Ear With Husk Pulled Away     Exposing A Row Of Grains D. A Leaf Pulled Back     Exposing Two Ears E. Leaf (Blade)

Teosinte (Zea mexicana): Close-up view of three ears compared with a U.S. Penny. [Penny is 18 mm in diameter.] The outer husk of one ear is pulled away revealing a single row of seven grains. This wild Mexican grass is considered by some botanists to be the ancestor of modern corn (maize).

Individual grains of teosinte have a hard, flinty endosperm like popcorn. When they are heated, water contained within the starchy endosperm expands as steam, and the hard-shelled grains literally explode. Other varieties of modern corn, such as the delicious sweet corn sold in markets, have soft kernels with a sugary endosperm. The large populations and impressive cultural achievements of the Aztecs, Mayas and Incas would have been impossible without the coevolution of corn. Although the hard, colorful grains of Indian corn have been used for necklaces, early people probably realized the potential of this plant for food and began cultivating it. The use of Job's tears also dates back thousands of years, but the value of this plant for human adornment was apparently greater than its value for food.

Hypothesis For Origin Of Pod Corn From Teosinte: The seed spike of teosinte consists of a single row of grains. Each grain is enclosed in a hard fruit case (called a cupule) and a pair of papery glumes. This spike is equivalent to an ear of modern corn. Tunicate Mutation: The grains are enclosed in a pair of husklike glumes (without the hard outer cupule) from which they can be threshed with ease. Further selection by pre-Columbian farmers could have reduced the size of the tunicate glumes and resulted in ears with many rows.

Grains of Indian corn come in different colors, such as purple, yellow and white. Sometimes the individual grains are purple with white mottling. This mottling effect defies Mendel's basic principles of genetics because individual grains may be multicolored rather than a single color. The explanation for this involves "jumping genes" or transposons, and earned Dr. Barbara McClintok the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1983 for her life-long research on corn genetics.

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