Holly bushes male/female

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redpaw Harrisburg, PA Apr 10, 2007

When I was little my grandfather showed me the leaves of a holly bush and showed me the difference in the leaves of a female verses a male. I cant rember how to do it anymore. I have a chance at buying 2-3 holly bushes at a great price, becuase they are not in bloom yet I need to know how I can tell the sex of the plants so I can get berries next year. Anyone know how to tell male/female in a not yet blooming shrub??

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claypa West Pottsgrove, PA(Zone 6b) Apr 12, 2007

Hi redpaw-
Your question is fascinating. I've wondered about this a lot, then not so much because I realized there were enough males around where I lived to pollinate the females, and where I live now I have a self-fruiting Holly, Ilex x meservae 'Dragon Lady'. And I'm out of room....
The short answer to your question is no- at least not with the American Holly, Ilex opaca, the straight species. But I d-mailed one of our resident authorities in the Tree and Shrub forum, and here's some of what he said:

"I am not aware of any way to differentiate sexes of Ilex species simply from leaves.

"That said, one can state definitively the sex of some clones by knowing that they possess some odd characteristic. To wit:

•Burford holly (Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii') is a female selection of Chinese holly with essentially entire leaf edges except for a single spine at the tip; this differs from standard Chinese holly leaves which typically have 5 or more spines located around the leaf edge

•Ilex opaca selections like 'Marsh Mutation', 'Nelson West', and 'William Hawkins' which have rather bizarre leaves, much mutated, misshapened and smaller than standard American holly foliage"

Another possibility V.V. mentioned was that your grandfather may have been able to see the pedicels that held last year's fruit on the branch...? But this wouldn't help with a young plant that hasn't flowered or fruited yet.
A couple suggestions: Buy them. Odds are they are female, but that's just me. Also, peruse the PlantFiles at Dave's Garden for Hollies - maybe it's a cultivar that is strictly male, or female, or that is self-fruiting, and you can identify them. And consider subscribing to Dave's Garden! With a question like yours, I think you would love the Tree and Shrub forum and unlimited access to search the plantfiles.

edited for typo

This message was edited Apr 12, 2007 11:29 PM

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kyjoy Frankfort, KY Apr 13, 2007

I planted three China Girls and one China Boy. Usually the labels tell you which is which. The mistake most people make with female hollies is pruning at them the wrong time. This eliminates the berries.

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