This holly bush has male flowers.
In order to identify whether a plant is male or female, you need to know some basic information about the plant's flowers. Complete flowers contain both male and female parts. The male part produces pollen and the female part produces seeds. Incomplete flowers have either male or female parts but not both. If the plant produces incomplete flowers, it could be monoecious and have male and female flowers on the same plant, or dioecious and have male and female flowers on different plants. Examining the plants with a magnifying glass will help you tell the difference between male and female plants. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. These are the stamens of a white lily.
Examine flowers with a magnifying glass to identify male parts. The male part of a flower contains one or more stamens. Each stamen is made up of paired sacs containing pollen called anthers. The anthers are attached to a filament or stalk, which disperses the pollen. Most anthers are orange/yellow in color.
2. Dissect the male part from the flower with a razor blade. Cut open the pollen sacs to confirm they contain pollen, which is a fine to coarse powder-like substance.
3. A complete lily flower with a tubular style in the center and stamens surrounding it.
Identify female parts with a magnifying glass. The female part of a flower is called a pistil and is made up of one or several fused carpels. Identify the carpel, a leaf-like structure located in the innermost whorl of the flower.
4. Cut the female part from the flower with a razor blade. Dissect the carpel to confirm it contains an ovary, style and stigma. The ovary is bulb-shaped, like a small fruit. The style, a tubular structure, extends from the ovary. The top of the style has a surface that is receptive to pollen called the stigma, and is usually sticky or hairy.
Tags: male female, female part, female parts, flower with, magnifying glass