Japanese Aucuba
Aucuba japonica
Japanese aucuba is a shade-loving evergreen shrub with bold, glossy leaves, often speckled gold, earning it the name gold dust plant. It brings light and color to dark, difficult corners.
- Light
- Shade to part shade
- Water
- Moderate; keep lightly moist
- Difficulty
- Easy
Got a plant like this?
Identify any plant from a photo, free.
Overview
Japanese aucuba (Aucuba japonica) is an evergreen shrub prized for thriving in deep shade where few other plants flourish. Its large, leathery leaves, frequently splashed and speckled with gold, brighten gloomy corners and earn the popular name gold dust plant.
It is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers grow on separate plants; a female plant with a nearby male produces showy clusters of bright red berries that persist through winter.
Tough, pollution-tolerant and undemanding, aucuba is a classic shrub for shady urban gardens, woodland edges and containers, and tolerates dry shade once established.
How to identify it
- Leaves: large, glossy, leathery, opposite, oval with coarse teeth; plain green or boldly speckled and blotched with yellow-gold
- Flowers: small, purplish, in clusters; inconspicuous; male and female on separate plants
- Fruit: clusters of bright red berries on female plants (needs a male nearby), lasting into winter
- Habit: rounded, bushy evergreen shrub, typically 4 to 8 ft tall and wide
- Stems: green, smooth
Care & growing
Best in part to full shade; direct sun, especially hot afternoon sun, scorches the leaves.
- Water: keep lightly moist; tolerates dry shade once established
- Soil: well-drained, humus-rich; adaptable, including to urban soils
- Temperature: USDA zones 7 to 10
- Feeding: light feed or mulch in spring
- Pruning: prune in spring to shape and control size; tolerates hard pruning
- For berries: grow a female plant with a male nearby for pollination
- Propagation: very easy from semi-hardwood cuttings
Habitat & origin
Native to Japan, Korea, China and the Himalayas, where it grows as a woodland understory shrub in moist, shaded forest.
Widely cultivated in temperate gardens, especially valued in Europe and North America for shady, polluted urban sites and as a Victorian-era favorite for both gardens and conservatories.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called gold dust plant?
Many cultivars have leaves heavily speckled and splashed with yellow-gold, looking as if dusted with gold, which brightens shady spots.
Why doesn't my aucuba have berries?
Aucuba is dioecious, so only female plants set fruit and only when a male plant grows nearby for pollination. You may have a male, or no pollinator present.
Can aucuba grow in deep shade?
Yes, it is one of the best evergreen shrubs for full and dry shade. Too much direct sun actually scorches its leaves.
Japanese Aucuba guides
In-depth guides for identifying, growing, and caring for Japanese Aucuba.
