Male Holly Help Please

[Gray git]

Ow and cool reason for needing to know, had ringworm on horses so know about it, grew up on livery yard.

[Marc Lewis]

even if the berries have been nicked by birds there should still be some attachments on the twigs so you could look for them.

 

True. Also for female yew trees to berry, there needs to be a male nearby to pollonate it.

[daltontrees]

Known as asexual gymnosperm species if I can remember back to my uni days.

 

Eh? Don't you mean 'dioecious'?

[Gray git]

Possible, it is about 15years since I had to remember this stuff. ;-)

[wrsni]

Can anyone guide me as to how to tell male holly apart from female holly.

 

As far as I'm aware there is no practical way of doing so on a bare-leaved plant. I was a bit paranoid about this when buying the holly plants for my woodland as I wanted to be sure of having both and therefore having berries but ended up just having to increase the number of plants and hope that the laws of probability take care of it.

[farmer rod]

thanks again for all the replies, Im off to find one with no berries, Ive had a look at where the berries hang on, and Im hoping to be able to distinguish that out in the hedgerows so I can identify a male tree. Probably wont know till the spring if I was right, unless of course the ring worm clears up !

[daltontrees]

thanks again for all the replies, Im off to find one with no berries, Ive had a look at where the berries hang on, and Im hoping to be able to distinguish that out in the hedgerows so I can identify a male tree. Probably wont know till the spring if I was right, unless of course the ring worm clears up !

 

It might help to ignore the trees that have lots of holly seedlings beneath and around them. They are almost certainly female.

[wrsni]

unless of course the ring worm clears up !

 

It usually does of it's own accord anyway!

[fagus]

I would try and identify Ilex aquifolium `Golden Queen`which surprisingly is male. See and photograph it at your your local garden centre- then look for it locally. Often planted in gardens, parks. I feel sure a knock on a door with the ringworm story would gain you some.

 

Homeopathy is difficult to prove or disprove either way but hey if it works go for it.

[openspaceman]

It usually does of it's own accord anyway!

 

I wish, I got iton my left arm from the calves kept in old wooden buildings when I was about 24, GP gave me a topical tar based treatment that did nothing and within months it was over my shoulders. It needed a systemic pill to kill it.

 

My boss, an old man of 30, had it worse, it gave him a brazilian!

 

It's the same family as athletes foot