Plant: Green Aucuba
Aucuba · Aucuba japonica
Size: 3 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
Green aucuba is a slow growing broadleaf evergreen shrub with an arching to rounded, dense habit and large dark green, leathery, lustrous leaves that stay glossy as long as it is kept in shade. NCSU records it at 6 to 10 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet wide. Small cross shaped purple maroon flowers appear in spring, and female plants with a male pollinator nearby carry showy red half inch drupes from fall into winter. Plant it in partial to deep shade in soil high in organic matter that is moist and well drained; leaves burn in summer sun. It tolerates heavy shade, drought, pollution and salt, and is used for shaded corners, hedges, screens and containers.
- Full Shade
- Grows to 10 ft tall and 6 ft wide
- Blooms in spring
- Hardy in USDA zones 7-10
- Evergreen foliage
Plant description
Green aucuba is a slow growing broadleaf evergreen shrub with an arching to rounded, dense habit and large dark green, leathery, lustrous leaves that stay glossy as long as it is kept in shade. NCSU records it at 6 to 10 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet wide. Small cross shaped purple maroon flowers appear in spring, and female plants with a male pollinator nearby carry showy red half inch drupes from fall into winter. Plant it in partial to deep shade in soil high in organic matter that is moist and well drained; leaves burn in summer sun. It tolerates heavy shade, drought, pollution and salt, and is used for shaded corners, hedges, screens and containers.
- Flowers
- Purple-maroon, 4 petals, 4 sepals, cross-shaped with white anthers.
- Foliage
- Medium to dark green, leathery and glossy leaves, elliptic to ovate and up to about 8 inches long, with marginal teeth.
- Fruit
- Red, ellipsoid, one-seeded, berry-like drupes to about half an inch that ripen in fall; female plants need a male pollinator to fruit.
- Light
- Dappled/Filtered Light, Deep Shade
- Native range
- East Asia and Japan
