Christmas box seedlings

[Monica]

Hello,

I have some Christmas box plants in our garden that produce little seedlings around their bases. I pot these on, grow them on a bit and and give them to friends. Does anyone know if these little seedlings are going to be exactly the same as the parent(s)?

These shrubs are great for the winter garden, they have a lovely, intensely sweet fragrance. I have also planted one near the front door so when it is opened during the winter months the smell wafts into the house.

[gardening_guru]

Hello Monica,

In most case I think the Christmas box seedlings will be identical or similar to the parents. Christmas box or Sarcococca are monoecious i.e. they have separate male and female flowers on the same plant, so it is highly likely that the offspring are from that single plant and not produced from pollen from elsewhere.

Also, most Sarcococca are naturally occurring species rather than cultivated hybrids, therefore I think this means the offspring are highly likely to be identical or similar to the two parents.