Yaupon Holly
Flowers
April in San Diego typically means our yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) hollies are blooming. In the fall, some of the yaupon will have many red berries. Some will not have any. Hollies are dioecious, which is to say that there separate female and male plants. Only the female yaupons will have berries. So if your goal is to have a bonsai with red berries in the fall, you will want to look for female plants.
When searching for yaupon in the spring, you can examine the flowers to determine the sex of the plant. The flowers are white and quite small. Male flowers will have stamens usually with pollen on the tips. Female flowers will have stamens however they do not bear pollen. Female flowers will have a noticeable green stigma (ovary) in the center.
Below are four yaupon flowers next to a quarter for scale. The two on top are male flowers bearing pollen on the stamens. The two below are female lacking pollen on the stamens but with the green stigma in the center.
April in San Diego typically means our yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) hollies are blooming. In the fall, some of the yaupon will have many red berries. Some will not have any. Hollies are dioecious, which is to say that there separate female and male plants. Only the female yaupons will have berries. So if your goal is to have a bonsai with red berries in the fall, you will want to look for female plants.
When searching for yaupon in the spring, you can examine the flowers to determine the sex of the plant. The flowers are white and quite small. Male flowers will have stamens usually with pollen on the tips. Female flowers will have stamens however they do not bear pollen. Female flowers will have a noticeable green stigma (ovary) in the center.
Below are four yaupon flowers next to a quarter for scale. The two on top are male flowers bearing pollen on the stamens. The two below are female lacking pollen on the stamens but with the green stigma in the center.
As you can see from the photos below, yaupon are popular in the annual holiday tree competition.
Heavy root pruning on yaupon is possible. The root pruning below was accomplished with a Sawzall.
