How to keep hover effect only on the parent - css

Question

I'm developing a css Tree view and I want, if is possible, to keep the hover effect only on the element that has children:
<ul>
<li><span>Item 1</span>
<ul>
<li><span>Item 1.1</span></li>
<li><span>Item 1.2</span></li>
<li><span>Item 1.3</span></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
What I've done in css was:
.treeview li>ul>span:hover, .treeview li>ul>span:hover+ul li span {
background:#eee;
border:1px solid #94a0b4;
color:#000
}
but this doesn't work like I expected.

Answer 1

You want the :hover effect only inside the "Item 1" right?
.treeview > ul > li:hover > span {
color: red;
}
Also check this Fiddle.
UPDATED (based on your comment)
.treeview li:hover > span {
color: red;
}
And updated Fiddle. This however will also trigger the span on "Item 1.1.1" when hovered...

Answer 2

Is that what you want ?
http://jsfiddle.net/Defoncesko/p63b9/
HTML
<div class="treeview">
<ul>
<li><span>Item 1</span>
<ul>
<li><span>Item 1.1</span></li>
<li><span>Item 1.2</span></li>
<li><span>Item 1.3</span></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
CSS
ul ul li:hover {
background-color:#eee;
border:1px solid #94a0b4;
color:#000
}

Answer 3

I think this is what you want. I added another larger li in my fiddle so you can see.
.treeview ul>li>span:hover {
background:#eee;
border:1px solid #94a0b4;
color:#000
}
.treeview ul>li>span ~ ul>li>span:hover {
background:#fff;
border:none;
color:#000
}
Demo:http://jsfiddle.net/QdEEf/1/
Edit: Actually If im truly understanding your question. Youre looking for a way to determine if the li has a ul as a child then give that li a hover if it does. If this is the case youre gonna need to use javascript to determine if it has a ul child. There is no way to do this with CSS