Boys and Girls

The primary purpose of a plant to flower is for it to reproduce and form seed. The healthiest and strongest seed is produced when the plant is able to cross pollinate with another plant of the same species that has different chromosomes to itself (ie as distantly related as possible) This way the plant avoid inbreeding and weakening the gene pool. After all, it is pretty useless swapping chromosomes with someone who has an identical set to your own. Plants have evolved different ways to prevent a flower being pollinated by itself and Sheoaks are one of the few species that have become dioecious to combat this. Dioecity means that the male and female reproductive organs are housed in two different bodies. So in the Sheoaks case, you  have male and female trees. During Spring and early Summer, the male trees develop a reddish, feathery growth at the end of their long narrow leaves (as you can see in the photo). These are designed to catch as much wind as possible in order to disperse the pollen. Female trees grow little round, red tufts just above the leaves that try to stick out from the plant in order to catch any pollen floating on the wind. Once pollinated the flowers then develop into small, oval shaped, woody fruits. Once ripe, slits open in the fruits so the seed can spread on the wind and the cycle can begin again.