
However, lo and behold, the five shrubs I planted produced no berries, even after two years. It suddenly occurred to me that (duh!) since Inkberries are dioecious (separate male and female plants), the females needed a male for polination! Why didn't I think of this before? Thus started my quest for a male inkberry.
It seemed to be an easy enough task...just go back to the nursery and buy a male plant. Not so easy, as it turns out. It seems that Inkberries are primarily hybridized and sold for their foliage value - bright shiny evergreen leaves - and not so much for their fruit. Most nurseries don't even sell males - or even know which Inkberry is a male. A check of the Ilex glabra section in Dirr's Manual wasn't much more help...of the 20 odd cultivars listed, nine are labeled as being female; eleven have no gender mentioned or have an undetermined sex. A recent internet search continued the confusion: the cultivar Nordic 'Chamzin' is listed in Baileys Nursery catalogue as being a male; Weston Nurseries lists 'Chamzin' as having black berries. Sylvan's Nursery doesn't list the sex of any of their Ilex glabra cultivars; interestingly enough all of the Ilex verticillita cultivars are clearly labeled as male or female.
I mentioned my confusion to Sue Gordon at URI, and she initially thought that males would be present in sufficient quantity in nature to provide the needed polination. However, she has come to the conclusion that the nursery industry, and the native plant nursery industry in particular, needs to pay closer attention to this. She has started propagating male plants; and is making an effort for other nurseries to join in the cause.
The flowers on all Ilex species are small, fairly inconspicuous and somewhat similar which probably leads to the confusion. Male flowers, it seems, occur in clusters (see photo above) while the female flower is generally found singly on a stem. Other than that, the only real way of identifying a female is the presence of berries.
Hi Angela,
ReplyDeleteI just found your post and I find myself in a similar situation finding similar results. Any progress on your end since you wrote this entry?
Thanks,
Derek Kalp, RLA
Penn State
Oh wow this 100%. This should not be this hard!! I am thinking of purchasing "Nigra" but not sure of what cultivars are male let alone flower at the same time!! Aaaaaaa!!!
ReplyDeleteI bought (1) Nordic Inkberry from Monrivia and (4) Shamrock Inkberries ((2) from Monrovia & (2) from Garden Goods Direct) last spring 2020. Now (to my surprise) only the Nordic from Monrovia has berries on it and all (4) Shamrocks have no berries. Getting disgusted, I ordered (2) Compacta's from Garden Goods Direct and am trying to convince Monrovia that they mis-tagged the plants they sent me and need to send me (2) female Inkberries that now are showing berries!! Virginia Labbadia
ReplyDeleteGarden Goods Direct delivered a Nordic Inkberry Chamzin as the male pollinator for the Ilex Gabra Densas in that same order. I questioned why that male plant has berries on it. Joey S. (customer service) stated that this male Inkberry can have "sterile berries" on it! And forget about the optional 1 year plant warranty I purchased. A plant has to be Dead according to the details received after placing the order. Buyer Beware!!!
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