From a Greek word meaning “two households,” dioecious species are those that have distinct male and female organisms (like humans). For gardeners, it’s important to know if your edible plants are dioecious since male and female reproductive structures will appear on separate plants and will only produce fruit if both sexes of plants are grown near each other. Although most garden plants are monoecious, meaning only one plant is sufficient to produce fruit, plants such as persimmon and pistachio need a “garden lover” to make their delicious harvests. Others, like spinach and asparagus, are technically dioecious, but since they’re grown for foliage and not fruits, you’ll only need to grow two (or more) if interested in seed saving techniques.
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