I spotted these berry shrubs a million miles from where I was standing. The tag said buy a male and a female?

Question

Sorry, I forgot the name of this plant (these were not holly's).

It had bright red berries sitting atop upright legs. I looked terrific. So I zoomed in like a bee for a closer look. The garden center had kindly placed an information plaque in front of the shrubs, which said it was best to buy a male plant to go along with the female, for sake of plant fertilization. Upon further notice, there was no info about which was male, and which was female on the tags.

I took a step back and noticed the one with all the berries had fewer leafs and was taller (by maybe 1/2 foot).

The other plants clustered around had fewer berries, were shorther in stature, and had more waxy green leaves.
Who are the men and who are the ladies? How can you tell? I suspect the boys were the ones with the most berries and lesser leaves. I rationalize this because generally in nature, boys are showier in color, where girls are more unassumming, demure and plumper.

Your thoughts?

I wasn't trying to offend here in my question. My comment about men being showier was based on thinking back to all those "National Geographic" specials I have watched .

In the animal Kingdom the male is usually brighter and more colorful, so as to look more threatening to its natural predators.

The female, who bears all the new progeny, is usually more demure in color, so as not to attact attention to its natural predators.

I was sort of thinking this would follow through in plant Kingdom.

Maybe it depends on the life cycle of the berry, as some will seed better after its seed coat is digested by a bird.

Any thoughts? (As a side note, there was a song bird warbling away very near the shrubs. It was not very colorful, but had a myriad of songs in its reprotoire).

Kevin, I did take a minute to look up service berry pics. I bears a good resemblence to what I was attacted to. Thanks.

Kev, sorry I meant to type Sparkle berry (I'm researching Service berry now and got confused).

It's a good thing I discovered this "add detail" option. No more 2 part questions. Oh Yah Baby!!!

Answer 1

I happen to know, from experience answering your questions, that you are in USDA hardiness zone 5, right? With that unfair advantage I doubt it was Skimmia.

I think it is Sparkleberry (Ilex verticillata) also known as Michigan Holly. Yes, I know you said it wasn't a holly, but sparkleberry is deciduous and doesn't look like typical holly. Despite other answers to the contrary, there aren't that many plants that are 'dioecious' (sexed plants). The nursery could be recommending planting a pollinator near by, to increase the berry set on both plants. This is different from having male/ female plants.

If that is the case... we open a huge "bag-o-worms". They could be any of a variety of Viburnum, or Barberry. I'm sure there are others.

Now... onto biology. Males are pretty (my biased opinion), but girls can be pretty too. Either can be 'plump', but only one can have babies... those are called girls (women, females, ladies etc.) the other ones are boys (they have more fun).

dumbdumb... keep asking the questions... I'm just having a little fun at your expense. ;)

Answer 2

You've given the description of what could be several plant species, so making an identification is not easy.

It could likely be that the plant with all the berries is really the female, generally because the female plants are designed to make the fruit/berries. The male plants generally have few if any fruits/berries, and if they do the fruits/berries are smaller and less developed. Sometimes the leaves do differ on male or female plants.

However, it could also be that those plants were not kept well, some individuals grew faster than others because they had more sun or water, or there were two varieties of that plant you were seeing.

Unfortunately, transferring human or animal characteristics onto the plant world doesn't usually work. Sometimes the male is showier, sometimes it's the female. All that matters with plants is efficiency in pollination and producing seed for the next year.

Go back to the garden center and ask about this plant. Although you say they weren't hollies, there are varieties of holly without thorns and some have variegated leaves. But there are many other plants which need both sexes planted by each other for fruit/berries to occur.

Answer 3

Kevin had a great answer, but then, he knows where you live. For the rest of us, it's helpful if you give us a zone, or at least a geographical location.

If the plant tag specified a male and female, I suspect this was a species of holly (Ilex). The female bears the berries, the male is the pollinator. (You could, if you wished, buy several females and one male; as in the rest of nature, the males are SO prolific). There aren't many shrubs covered with red berries this time of year that fit your description, which narrows my guess.

Your best bet, of course, is to ask the nursery staff rather than a bunch of Yahoos...

Answer 4

Maybe it is a Skimmia japonica. The male flowers are fragrant and larger than the flowers of the female plant. The female plants have berries only when a male plant is nearby. Skimmias have dark green leathery leaves. They prefer shade.Skimmias grow to about 3-4 feet. Skimmia nana is a low variety.

Answer 5

There are hollies that don't look like hollies; if the genus name is Ilex, then it is a type of holly. You can tell the difference between the boys and the girls by lifting their leaves, and if you see a little ding-dong, it's a boy. If you see nothing, this plant should be taken to a doctor. Look out for the little prick ly leaves.

Answer 6

The ones with the berries are the females. The berries contain the seeds. Know of any males that bear offspring????

I predict that you are going to get creamed over your comments about "unassuming...." females. A gross over-simplification.

Answer 7

Many plants need a male and a female to make berries or fruit. We need to know what type of plant it was.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

the berries have the seed in them, therefore I'm assuming this is the female.