ABSTRACT - The early introduction of maize from the newly discovered Americas and a central position in the Mediterranean region fostered the role of Italy in the sec- ondary evolution and diffusion of maize. New environ- ments, new uses and crossing of strains coming from dif- ferent places stimulated the rising of numerous new pop- ulations, suited to different agroecological situations. The spread of USA dent hybrids in the late 1950s changed Ital- ian maize cultivation, leading to the loss of traditional va- rieties. Principal components analysis of 17 relevant phe- nological, morphological and geographical characters, performed on 562 Italian maize accessions of the indura- ta and indentata groups, divided the accessions into 65 agroecotypes, representing 34 landraces derived from nine racial complexes. A brief description of the landraces and the racial complexes is presented. Samples of many Italian maize landraces, collected in 1954 and the follow- ing years, are maintained, studied and utilised as sources of useful genes in breeding programmes. The Italian maize collection is permanently preserved ex situ at the Bergamo Unit of the Italian Agricultural Research Council (CRA). KEY WORDS: Zea mays; Agroecotypes; Landraces; Racial complexes. INTRODUCTION The earliest European report on maize comes from the Ship Diary of Cristoforo Colombo (a.k.a. Cristobal Colon, in spanish, or Christopher Colum- bus, in english): the original is lost but its content survives in the versions of Bartolomé de las Casas and of Ferdinand Columbus. On the 16 October 1492 (four days after landing in the island of Gua- nahuani, christened as San Salvador), near the is- land Fernandina, Columbus wrote: Ella es isla muy verde, y fertilisima y no pongo duda que todo el año sembrese panizo y cogen... (It is a very green island, and very fertile and I don’t doubt that all around the year they plant and harvest panizo). On the 6th of November he further recorded: Vinieron los hom- bres [Rodrigo de Xeres and Luís de Torres that, re- turning from a short exploration of Cuba, described seeds of] otro trigo, parecido al panizo, que ellos lla- man mahiz: tien bon sabor cuando jervido y tostado (The men came back… another wheat, similar to panizo, that they call mahiz, and has a good taste when boiled and roasted). The first exploration of the Antilles (Bahamas and Cuba), carried out be- tween 12 October 1492 and 16 January 1493, corre- sponded to the vegetative period of maize cultiva- tion in that area (the cropping cycle was from Sep- tember to March-April). Columbus saw the maize in full vegetation, during the male inflorescence blooming and, in its agricultural inexperience, iden- tified it with the panizo (either sorghum or millet), then common in the Northern Italy plains and char- acterised by an apical tassel. Columbus brought back to Spain many seed samples. On the 21 of October he recorded: … hay árboles de mil maneras… y d’ellos traigo la demues- tra, y asimismo de las yervas… (…there are trees of thousand types… and I bring back samples, as well as of the herbs…). The arrival of the seeds was withnessed by Pietro Martire d’Anghiera and Bar- tolomé de las Casas. More and huger quantities, used as food for the crew members, arrived in Spain during the following travels. In Italy the first informations on the New World and on maize arrived to the cardinal Ascanio Sforza, brother of the duke of Milan Ludovico il Moro, by a letter from Pietro Martire d’Anghiera, dated 13 No- vember 1493: Fanno pane con poca differenza di un certo grano farinoso, simile a quello che tengono Maydica 54 (2009): 233-242 MAIZE INTRODUCTION, EVOLUTION AND DIFFUSION IN ITALY A. Brandolini 1 , A. Brandolini 2,* 1 Centro di Ricerca Fitotecnica, Bergamo, Italy 2 CRA-SCV, Via R. Forlani 3, S. Angelo Lodigiano (LO), Italy Received May 29, 2009 * For correspondence (fax: +39 0371 210372; e.mail: andrea. brandolini@entecra.it).