Identification of sexes in dioecious plants is not difficult. Fruiting plants are female. Fruitless plants are not necessarily male because even mature female plants fail to bear fruits without a supply of the right kind of pollen at the right time. Identification of sexes is easy at blooming time. In certain species, sex identification requires a hand lens.
Male flowers lack stigmas or have undeveloped stigmas.
On the other hand, female flowers have well developed ovaries and stigmas but not developed stamens. The photos illustrate typical flowers of both sexes of four common woody ornamentals. Ripe fruits of ginkgo have an objectionable odor, and mulberry fruits litter the ground when they ripen and fall. In such cases, knowledge of plant sex is helpful. It is advisable to plant only male ginkgo and mulberry trees because female trees might bear fruit, their flowers receiving pollen from distant trees.