If you have ever observed the reproduction plants, you might have seen that some plants can pollinate on their own. But some are dependent on other external factors for their pollination and reproduction. The ones that cannot self-pollinate are the dioecious plants.
We are here today with a detailed explanation and some examples of dioecious plants. The article will also discuss how they reproduce, and whether they have any benefits or disadvantages, along with other important details. So, let’s get started!
What Are Dioecious Plants?
Dioecious plants have only one form of sexual organ on a single plant. It will have a female or a male reproductive organ, unlike the monoecious plants, which have both the female and male reproductive organs on a single plant.
The offspring of dioecious plants will also have only one reproductive organ. Dioecious plants cannot self-pollinate. Pollen from the stamens of the male dioecious plants needs to somehow come in contact with the pistils of the female dioecious plant for their reproduction.
9 Examples Of Common Dioecious Plants
If you know what some of the common dioecious plants are, you will easily be able to distinguish them from the cosexual and monoecious plants. A lot of the dioecious plants you can find around where you live. But maybe you did not know that they are dioecious plants.
Here is a list of some of the most common dioecious plants.
Willow
Willows are one of the best samples of dioecious plants. They have either the male reproductive organ or the female reproductive organ. Willow flowers have a lean floral shape with a bunch of pin-like petals. Their petals are referred to as catkins.
Female and male catkins have different features. The male ones are large with yellow stamen cover. On the other hand, the catkins of female wills are comparatively smaller and appear green. The willows you see at the beginning of spring are the male ones. If you want to plant these, it would be better to plant them in a secluded area.
Spinach
Spinach is atypical as a dioecious plant because vegetable plants are usually monoecious. Like all other dioecious plants, spinach is also either male or female.
Spinach produces two different types of seeds. They can be either bristled or polished. The plants grown from the bristled leaves have evenly shaped leaves. On the other hand, the leaves of the plants will be crinkled if produced from polished seeds. Spinach likes horse manure and it can help the plants growth.
Asparagus
Asparagus is another example of a dioecious plant. However, even though they are dioecy, they identify as hermaphrodites at the early stage of their lives, similar to monoecious plants. This means they have both the male and female reproductive organs at the beginning.
Then as they develop, they achieve the feature of dioecious plants. The plants where the stamens disintegrate grow as females, and the pistils disintegrate grow as males.
Mistletoe
Mistletoe, one of the most popular decorations of Christmas, is also a dioecious plant. As they are dioecy, they cannot self-pollinate. They are dependent on insects like flies and wasps for their pollination.
However, unlike most other dioecious plants, they take longer to mature. As mistletoe reproduces via cross-pollination, its fruits can be of many colors, such as pink, red, or mostly white.
Birds help mistletoe plants by dispersing their seeds.
Mulberry
Mulberry is a particular type of dioecious plant because it can also be monoecious. They are also referred to as gender fluid because they can change from one gender to another.
Like other dioecious plants, mulberry fruit also comes in varieties of color due to cross-pollination. Initially, they can be green, light yellow, or white. But when they fully grow, their color goes from pink to red, red to purple, and finally black.
Mulberry plants are dependent on wind for their cross-pollination.
Kiwifruit
Kiwifruit comes from dioecious plants. Pollen from the stamen of one male kiwi plant can pollinate up to eight female kiwi plants.
There are some variations of kiwi plants or vines that can reproduce through self-pollination. But their yield quantity significantly increases if they are outbred through cross-pollination.
Holly
Holly plants or bushes are another excellent model of dioecious plants. This means that male holly plants and female holly plants in seclusion cannot bear any berries.
The male holly plants’ flowers have approximately four yellow stamens that protrude from the middle. Whereas the female holly flowers have green pistils in their center.
Since they are dioecy, they depend on outer elements for their cross-pollination, mainly facilitated by honey bees. Also, like kiwi vines, male pollens can pollinate up to eight female bushes.
Papaya
Papaya comes from dioecious plants. This means one plant only has a male or a female reproductive organ. Papaya plant with male reproductive organ needs to be near the papaya plant with female reproductive organ to complete their pollination process.
Ginkgo
Ginkgo plants are a bit unusual dioecious plant. Usually, dioecious plants reach maturation earlier than monecious plants. But ginkgo plants require approximately four years until they become mature.
Most dioecious plants cross-pollinate through insects. But as for ginkgo plants, they are dependent on wind for their pollination. This is mainly due to their dull color. Also, since they are gymnosperm, ginkgo plants cannot produce fruit.
How Do Dioecious Plants Reproduce?
Unlike a monoecious plant, a dioecious plant cannot reproduce by itself because they have only one reproductive organ. So, they have to depend on external factors to reproduce.
As they do not have male and female reproductive organs, dioecious plants can pollinate only through cross-pollination. Male and female dioecious plants need to be close to or around each other for pollination since they cannot reproduce in isolation.
When they are around each other, the pollen of male dioecious plants can easily transport to female dioicous plants.
Dioecious plants have a to going against them in terms of their reproduction. Yet, they do not let all these adversities hinder their reproduction rate. They had to mutate themselves to be able to pollinate and disperse seeds through insects, birds, or other animals and mature earlier than other plants.
What Are The Benefits Of Being A Dioecious Plant?
Dioecious plants pollinate through cross-pollination and are unable to self-pollinate. Self-pollination can be the cause of many problems in the offspring of plants.
Most of the time, the offspring produced via self-pollination are intrinsically indistinguishable. This results in a loss of biodiversity. On the other hand, dioecious plants reproduce within two varieties of plants. As a result, dioecious plants are more inclined to be diverse and have different qualities.
Moreover, offspring from self-pollination tend to have more diseases and are weak. In contrast, dioecious plants are more robust and fit due to their recessive mutation.
Lastly, dioecious plants are easier to modify genetically than monoecious plants due to their cross-pollination ability. As a result, scientists and farmers can produce insecticide-resistant, more nutritious, and aesthetically pleasing dioecious plants.
Are There Any Disadvantages To Being A Dioecious Plant?
There are a couple of drawbacks dioecious plants face. Female and male dioecious plants need to be close to each other for their reproduction. They cannot reproduce in seclusion. If they are not in the same area, it will become impossible for them to produce offspring.
Unlike monoecious plants, dioecious plants cannot procreate all by themselves. They are dependent on other organisms and elements for their reproduction.
What Effect Does This Have On The Plants’ Populations?
A dioecious plant cannot reproduce if it is in an isolated area. They need another plant of the opposite gender near them for their pollination and reproduction.
So, if a dioecious plant grows in a secluded area from seed dispersal, that plant will not be able to procreate an offspring and populate that area. But if it is a monoecious plant, it will not need any help to overrun that zone with its offspring.
However, even if they cannot self-pollinate, the reproduction rate of dioecious plants does not decrease significantly.
How Does This Compare To Monoecious Plants?
The primary difference between monoecious and dioecious plants is that monecious plants have both the female reproductive organ pistil. And the male reproductive organ stamen in one single plant. But a single dioecious plant will have either a female reproductive organ of a male reproductive organ.
Since monoecious plants have female and male reproductive organs, they are considered bisexual. On the other hand, dioecious plants are considered unisexual since they can be either female or male.
Monoecious plants can both cross-pollinate and self-pollinate. Dioecious plants are incapable of self-pollination, so they must depend on cross-pollination.
Monoecious plants do not need to be near each other and can produce offspring even in isolation. However, dioecious plants cannot procreate unless the female and male plants are in close quarters.
Offspring of monoecious plants have no distinguishable features due to their inbreeding. But the descendants of dioecious plants can be quite diverse as their gametes are produced from two different plants with different characteristics.
What Are Some Common Misconceptions About Dioecious Plants?
One of the most common misconceptions people have about dioecious plants is that they cannot self-pollinate. Depending on other factors for their pollination, they must be quite rare. But that is not the case at all.
Half of the dioecious plants cannot produce offspring, but they were still able to reproduce along with the monoecious plant. There is no significant difference in reproduction rate between the dioecious and the monoecious plants.
People often think that since the gamete of two different plants produces a single offspring, inferior genes of both plants will appear in the progeny and reduce its longevity. But that is not true at all. Like mammals, plants also generally live longer when produced from outbreeding rather than inbreeding.
Final Words
Even though dioecious plants have to face some hardships in their reproduction process, and half of them cannot reproduce, these did not decrease their reproduction rate. They refused to let any obstacle slow them down and have continued with spawning offspring in any way possible.