Subject: Box Elder

From: Bart Frechem <[email-masked]>
Date: 18 Sep 1995 13:42:32 GMT

This may sound off-the-wall, but I have a question about altering the
sex of plants, specifically the box elder.   The issue is that my
female box elders are being attacked by the box elder beetle, and
my understanding is that they are attracted only to the female plants
(sap).  I vaguely recall hearing that the sex of some trees can be
altered.  My question is if I can protect my box elders by changing
their sex to male.

Is this question crazy?  Is it possible?  Are there other ways to
get rid of these pests?

Any help would be appreciated.

---

From: [email-masked] (TGray)
Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:07:05 -0400

You are misinformed about the sex life of boxelders (_Acer Negundo_).  
They are not either male or female; both genders occur on each tree,
although not in each flower.

As for changing the sex of a tree, I'm afraid you're going out on a limb
:)