Add Photo to Journal
|
|
| Photo Credit: Joy Goforth |
| Only female flowers contain fruit-producing ovaries, so only female plants – like this Savannah holly – can provide the berries that many gardeners admire. |
It’s actually a rather common frustration that many homeowners have: “What have I ever done to my hollies to make them refuse to produce berries? I’ve loved them and fertilized them and treated them with tender loving care, but still – no berries. My neighbor is awful and neglectful to his plants, and every winter his hollies are completely covered in fruit. Where did I go wrong?!”
The answer to this berry dilemma lies in understanding the sex life of plants. The majority of flowering plants produce “perfect” flowers, meaning that each flower contains male (stamen, anther and pollen) and female parts (stigma, style, ovary and ovules), as well as other important flower elements. But there’s also a group of plants that produce “dioecious” flowers: “Di” meaning “two,” and “oecious” meaning “house.” To better understand this concept, consider each individual holly plant as a “house.” The “boy” flowers live in one house, and the “girl” flowers live in another. Just like with humans, only flowers that contain ovaries can produce fruit, so it stands to reason that only the hollies with female flowers can make berries. Unfortunately, there are no steadfast rules to identifying dioecious plants. Even when the plants are in full bloom, it’s often difficult to tell male flowers from female ones. If you’re purchasing a plant specifically for its ornamental fruit, you should do your homework first, or simply purchase the plants at the time of year they should be bearing fruit. (Just keep in mind that some plants won’t produce fruit until they’re more mature, making your hunt a little more challenging.)
|