Sexual expression of bonsai trees

The sexual expression of flowering plants is an interesting one, and often I am caught referring to a tree as a him or her and in some cases this is correct as there are distinct male and female trees for some species but also there are a few variations to consider.

Hermaphrodite flowers are the bisexual form and most plants in cultivation possess so called perfect flowers that is both male and female organs in the same flower on the same plant.

Separate flowers is a unisexual form and many plants fall into this category. This means they have flowers of only one sex which depending on the species may either occur on the same plant or on a different one. These can be further divided into monoecious (on 1 plant) or dioexious (on 2 plants).

Monoecious flowering plants have male and female flowers on the same individual plant.

Dioecious flowering plants have separate male and female flowers on different plants of the same species. Therefore they have male (Staminate) flowers on one plant and female (pistillate) flowers on another plant.

The following table provides examples of tree species.

Ginkgo biloba at Kew Gardens

Therefore when you buy bonsai trees, consider what sex the tree may be because if you want a fruit bearing tree like an Ilex serrata you will need both a male & female, if you want the female to produce berries. If you buy a ginkgo and you don’t want it to produce fruit (this smells foul) then you should only buy a male plant.