North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Jwlehman@aol.com]

About three days ago someone asked for more info on males grapes.  I was waiting on Lon Rombough, our expert grape expert and geneticist to reply but maybe missed the question. 

I'll give you my input, but Lon is much more qualified than I and can add to or correct errors.  

Grapes are naturally (in the wild) dioecious, that is plants of both sexes, male and female. As with some plant species, grape males sometimes develop perfect flowers, containing active male (stamens) and female (pistils) components.  

By breeding to the male side, man has developed over many years cultivars that are monoecious, having perfect flowers. Strawberries are another example. American persimmon carries the possibility. Some grapes may also be polygamous that bear both pistillate and staminate flowers.  As I understand polygamous, some can also include perfect flowers as well as male and female.   

Confusing?

Jerry Lehman