Plant: Hosoba Hoshifu - Aucuba Variegata

Aucuba · Aucuba japonica 'Hosoba Hoshifu'

$30.00

Size: 3 gal

Light

Full Shade

Bloom

Spring

Mature size

8 ft tall6 ft wide

More about this plant

Hosoba Hoshifu is a selection of Aucuba japonica, a slow growing broadleaf evergreen shrub with an arching to rounded, dense habit and large glossy, leathery, toothed leaves. The species carries small cross shaped purple maroon flowers in spring, and female plants with a male pollinator produce showy red half inch drupes that ripen in fall and persist into winter. It wants partial to deep shade and soil high in organic matter that stays moist but drains well, since foliage burns in summer sun, and it tolerates heavy shade, drought, pollution and salt. It is used in shaded corners, as a hedge or screen and in containers.

  • Full Shade
  • Grows to 8 ft tall and 6 ft wide
  • Blooms in spring
  • Hardy in USDA zones 7-10
  • Evergreen foliage

Plant description

Hosoba Hoshifu is a selection of Aucuba japonica, a slow growing broadleaf evergreen shrub with an arching to rounded, dense habit and large glossy, leathery, toothed leaves. The species carries small cross shaped purple maroon flowers in spring, and female plants with a male pollinator produce showy red half inch drupes that ripen in fall and persist into winter. It wants partial to deep shade and soil high in organic matter that stays moist but drains well, since foliage burns in summer sun, and it tolerates heavy shade, drought, pollution and salt. It is used in shaded corners, as a hedge or screen and in containers.

Flowers
Purple-maroon, 4 petals, 4 sepals, cross-shaped with white anthers.
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

Plant details