Chionanthus virginicus

I understand that Virginia Fringe Tree is diocius,,,having male or female plants. Do the males bloom at all? If so, how does the 'flower power' compare to the females? We grow on liners and don't know if they are male or female plants...Never have seen female clones available as a seperate cultivar, such as with Ginkgo's where you can get tissue cultured males...is there any way to determine if the tree is male or female while still in the vegetative state? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Since Chionanthus is very hard to vegetatively propagate, almost all trees sold are seedlings. Hence the reason they are almost never sexed in nurseries.

Male trees indeed do bloom, and I personally believe they tend to be on average a little more fleecy and a little more fragrant. I'm sure someone could better describe how to determine male plants from females while in flower--I do believe the ovary is visible on female flowers--but unless the trees are in bloom or bearing fruit, there is no way to tell.

Scott

Thanks Scott for your input!,,,Do you think the male sets as many flowers or is as 'showy' as the female? Regardless of the visible difference you noted?

There's some 'cross-over' - while most are dioecious, some are monoecious - I have one that sets a good crop of fruit/seed almost every year, and the closest fringetree I know of is over a mile away, as the crow flies.

Here's a male form http://www.songsparrow.com/2006new/plantdetails.cfm?ID=1969&type=Woody%20Plants&pagetype=plantdetails

Just getting to your thread...and Kevin got you the male clone info.

Chionanthus virginicus 'Emerald Knight' was selected by Brian Upchurch of Highland Creek Nursery in Fletcher, NC. This was a select dark green shiny foliaged heavy flowering male seedling, which is reproduced by grafting.

There is word that this plant is being mixed up in the trade (some are finding fruit on their plants). This could be due to several things:

•misrepresentation of what is being sold
•suckering of understock with death of scion on grafted plants
•male and female flowers on one plant (polygamo-dioecious), per Lucky's anecdote (you can occasionally find Ginkgo that do this)

I think growing out seedlings is a great way to go; it offers the most diversity in the genetics of the plant. If you have customers who demand one or the other (male or female), then you need to make friends with a custom grafter and raise your prices! Customers may change their tune ex post facto.

Growing out seedlings also gives you the chance to make selections for superior performance which someone can then graft for you (maleness, floriferousness, precociousness, perspicacity, foliage color, habit, fructiferosity, fall color). OK, I made up some of the words, but you get the point.

Personal experience: observed male plants seem to have more flowers per unit space on the tree than females. Can't make a claim as to why, since no more investment in energy is made in that season because fruit aren't formed till after pollination. Maybe the female plants are "worn out" from producing last years crop of young'uns and don't set as many flower buds. Time for a controlled experiment in de-fruiting females in the summer, and see if they flower better the next spring. Volunteers?

Reading more about it: some authors believe there is a correlation between wider leaves and wider flower petal diameter (resulting in showier bloom display). One more criterion for selecting seedlings; might have to rename your nursery?

Again, thanks for all the information. We are familiar with Brian's male clone 'Emerald Knight'. In fact we visited Brian's nursery last month. We have a selection that has a nice upright form with particularly black stems, very dark glossy leaves with a pronounced white mid-vein. We don't know if it's male or female - which is why I initially started this thread. We took a picture the other day and although the black stems seem to have faded being that it's September, earlier this summer they were quite noticeable from 20 yards as being 'what's that plant?'...here's a couple pics, tell us what you think...

Here's a second one.

I really like your seedling! Do you do mailorder? LOL I wish this tree was more available in the nursery/retail trade. I don't have one but probaly would have bought one long ago if available locally.

If it turns out to be female, please sign me up for one! I already have a heavy-blooming male and need a good female.

Guy S.

These plants bloom while very young - a couple of years old or so - so you should be able to sex the plants while they are quite young/small.

I have 4 of these plants now: one female, one male/female due to grafting and two males. My female-only plant has quite a bit of fruit on it this year. I need to collect the fruit and extract the seed to sow. The drupes are quite attractive since they look somewhat like small concord grapes.

I ordered an Emerald Knight from Klehm's last year and my plant had fruit on it this year, also. There are two stems coming from the base of the plant; one is the graft and the other is a sucker from the understock and it's the understock that is female.

My female-only plant also seems to be a more spreading shrub while the male that's planted close to it is quite a bit more upright in its growth habit.
Mike

That's interesting. The ultra-rare Chionanthus pygmea has glossy leaves, an upright habit, and black stems. Here's a picture for comparison.

Scott

Starhill:
If it does turn out to be female we will certainly let you know,,,however, before i can let you introduce our baby to your 'heavy blooming male' (already i am concerned). I would need to know a little more background information,,, family history, nurseries attended,,,employment and salary history,,, just what are your intentions for my little girl?...she's never been kissed. She isn't 'one of those' types,,,, and, without exception, she must be home before 10:00,,,if this is ok, i think we can arrange an introduction,,,however, absolutely no hanky panky on the first date.

Huh.
We intend to ravish her on the spot!
She's just lucky I have only the one boy!
But just think of the cute little fringies she'll produce once she's preggers!