Home >> Science & Nature >> Nature

How to Determine Male and Female Holly

Holly, a bush commonly planted as an ornamental, is dioecious, meaning that there are separate male and female plants. Many people pay no attention to whether they are planting a male or a female, but in order to produce the beautiful red berries for which holly is known, a female must first be pollinated with pollen from a male flower. In order to grow hollies that will form berries, it is important to know whether you have male or female holly trees in your yard or garden.

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the flowers of the plant when plant is in bloom. Blooms will appear in the spring, when holly plants produce flowers for the purposes of cross-pollination. Pollination of spring blooms makes possible the production of berries in the fall. Male flowers have distinct stamens, often in a cluster of four, arising from the center of the bloom. Female flowers lack these stamens and instead have a green round bump in the middle of the flower.
- 2
  Look for berries on the plant. In the absence of flowers, berries are another reliable identification method. If berries are present, you know you have a female. However, this rule does not work the other way. A plant without berries could be either a male or a female that is yet to be fertilized.
- 3
  Look for any sort of tag, label, or name that identifies the individual tree as male or female when selecting from a nursery. In many cases, there will be no indication of which it is, and often names can be misleading. Generally, a name like Blue Prince indicates a male, while Blue Princess indicates a female, but other common names for holly varieties like Sky Pencil and Sparkleberry are less suggestive of the plant's sex. When in doubt, ask a nursery grower, who can clarify any confusion over holly varieties.

Nature