Meet the Natives: The ‘two household’ myrsine
The native shrub myrsine possesses a similarity with humans and many other animals — separate bodies for the two sexes. In other words, a single myrsine plant, Myrsine cubana, can be either male or female. Of course, scientists created a special word describing this phenomenon: dioecious, which translates into “two households.”
To determine whether myrsine is male or female, you would look for flowers or fruits. Blooms with pollen-producing anthers are male and blooms with sticky stigmas to receive pollen are female. After experiencing a dusting of pollen, a female flower begins its transformation into a green fruit, which will bruise from purple to black during ripening. Therefore, female myrsine plants can be readily recognized when in fruit.
Myrsine fruits are frequently plucked off the stem by small, fruit-loving mammals and birds. One common avian visitor is the red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus). Often misnamed the red-headed woodpecker (because of, well, its red head), this woodpecker is a common sighting in suburban settings. As would be expected, this woodpecker uses its chisel-like bill to poke holes in tree trunks and scrape out bark-dwelling insects. A trait that surprises some people is this bird’s proclivity for also eating fruit. Even though shrubs can be tricky for woodpeckers to perch on, myrsine’s habit of producing fruit on upright stems seems to suit this flexible woodpecker just fine.
Andee Naccarato, Sr. Program Specialist, Lee County Parks and Recreation