How do you recognise Spotted laurel (Aucuba japonica)?

Leaf

Lukfunk, Wikimedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

Spotted laurel

Aucuba japonica Thunb.

Also known as: Japanese laurel, Aucuba

Family: Garryaceae

1.5 to 3 m tall

Beds and informal hedges in shade, garden woodland; one of the few shrubs to thrive in dense shade and in towns

Flowering: March – April (inconspicuous flowering)

Shade

Part shade

Hardy to about -15°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

A male plant and a female plant must grow close together to obtain its red berries. Its exceptional tolerance of shade and pollution made it one of the favourite shrubs of Victorian urban gardens, at a time when coal smoke killed most other plants.

🍃 Leaves

Evergreen, opposite, leathery, ovate to elliptic, glossy dark green, often spotted with yellow in the very widespread variegated cultivars

🌸 Flowers

Small, purplish red, in small inconspicuous panicles; dioecious species (separate male and female plants)

🍎 Fruits

Bright red ovoid drupes, only on pollinated female plants, persisting through winter

🪵 Bark

Green shoots turning grey-brown with age

🗺️ Distribution

Native to Japan and East Asia; introduced to Europe in the 19th century

🐝 Value for pollinators

Inconspicuous, early flowering, of limited interest but useful in late winter

✂️ Horticultural uses

Shade beds and hedges in towns, tolerates pollution and poor soil very well

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Leaves and fruits mildly toxic if eaten (digestive upset)

🌱 Known cultivars

Gold Dust

The cultivar 'Gold Dust' is recognised by its dark green foliage heavily speckled with golden yellow, a mottled effect entirely absent from the plain green-leaved species.

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.