Background The African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a monoecious species of the palm subfamily Arecoideae. It may be qualified as ‘temporally dioecious’ in that it produces functionally unisexual male and female inflorescences in an alternating cycle on the same plant, resulting in an allogamous mode of reproduction. The ‘sex ratio’ of an oil palm stand is influenced by both geneti…