What does it mean for a plant to be dioecious?

A dioecious plant species is characterized by having male and female reproductive organs on separate plants. This means that individual plants are either male or female, and both sexes are needed for fertilization and reproduction. In a dioecious system, pollen is produced by the male plants and must be transferred to the female plants for fertilization to occur, leading to the production of seeds and fruit. This separation of sexes can promote genetic diversity since cross-pollination is encouraged, as opposed to self-pollination that could occur in monoecious plants, which have both male and female parts on the same individual.

The other options relate to different reproductive strategies in plants. For instance, the option stating that a plant produces both male and female flowers on the same plant describes monoecious plants, which can self-pollinate. The options indicating only male or only female reproductive structures do not reflect the structure of dioecious plants, as those would not encompass the dual gender requirement necessary for classification as dioecious.