Shrub · Garryaceae
Japanese Laurel
Aucuba japonica
Big, leathery, glossy evergreen leaves flecked with gold, with reddish-purple flowers and bright red berries on the females.
Partial shade
Every 7–14 days
USDA 6–10
6–15 ft · 1.8–4.6 m
Overview
Japanese laurel, Aucuba japonica, is an evergreen shrub built around large, leathery, glossy leaves that hold their shine all year. Many forms wear the trait that earns the gold dust plant nickname: the dark green blades are dusted or blotched with gold and yellow speckling, scattered thick across the leaf in some cultivars and pooled into a bold golden center in others. Small reddish-purple flowers open in spring, and on the right plants bright red berries follow.
This is a dioecious shrub, meaning male and female flowers grow on separate plants. Only the females carry the bright red drupes, which ripen in fall and cling on into spring, and they need a male shrub nearby to set fruit at all. It grows slowly into a sizeable plant, reaching 6 to 15 feet (1.8 to 4.5 m) tall and 4 to 9 feet (122 to 274 cm) wide, though the dwarf Nana stays small.
Easy to keep and rated low-severity poisonous, aucuba carries the glycoside aucubin in its fruits and leaves. Swallowing them brings on nausea, vomiting, and stomach upset, so keep the berries and leaves away from pets and small children. The foliage itself is safe to handle and won't irritate skin.
Care
The short version: give it partial to full shade out of the wind, let the top half of the soil dry between drinks once it is established, plant it in well-drained soil, and feed it once in spring. Strong direct sun scorches the leaves black.
Light
Aucuba does best in partial to full shade, and it will take a little partial or morning sun. Strong direct sun is the enemy: it scorches the leaves and blackens the youngest growth while the shaded interior leaves stay green. The gold-dusted forms hold their color best in deep shade.
Water
While young plants are rooting in, keep the soil evenly moist and water every 7 to 14 days. Once settled, aucuba is very drought tolerant, so let the top half of the soil dry out before watering again. Soggy, waterlogged soil rots the roots, turning them brown and soft.
Soil
Plant it in loam, clay, or sandy soil worked with organic matter and draining freely, at a pH of 5.5 to 7.0. This is a tough, forgiving shrub that puts up with poor soils and even urban pollution, but it will not stand soil that stays wet.
Temperature
Hardy from 0°F to 86°F (-18°C to 30°C) across zones 6 through 10, aucuba takes a wide range in stride. Its weak point is cold, drying wind, which browns the edges of the evergreen leaves, so shelter it from exposed, windy spots.
Humidity
Average humidity suits it and there is no target to hit. Indoors, though, very dry air invites spider mites, which spin fine webbing across the undersides of the leaves, so watch for that where the air runs parched.
Feeding
This is a light feeder. A single application of balanced slow-release fertilizer in spring is all it asks, keeping the foliage glossy without pushing soft, weak growth.
Pruning
Prune in late winter to early spring to shape it. The flowers bloom on new wood, so this timing keeps the display intact, and cutting back leggy stems builds a dense, rounded habit. The shrub takes heavy pruning without complaint.
Repotting
For container or indoor plants, repot every 2 to 3 years. The signs it has outgrown its pot are roots circling inside or pushing out the drainage holes, water running straight through, and stunted growth with yellowing leaves.
Size & spacing
Give it room for the full shrub: it reaches 6 to 15 feet (1.8 to 4.5 m) tall and 4 to 9 feet (122 to 274 cm) wide over time, growing slowly. For tight spaces, the dwarf Nana holds to about 3 feet by 3 feet instead.
When to plant
Aucuba is slow-growing and long-lived, so the calendar is really about getting it planted and then watching the bloom come round. Set new shrubs out in spring or fall into a shaded, wind-sheltered spot, and after that the small reddish-purple flowers open in March to April, with the red berries following in fall.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Spring or fall in a shaded, wind-protected site
- Harvest: March to April (small reddish-purple flowers); red drupes ripen in fall and persist into spring
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 6–10
Temperature: down to -23°C
Troubleshooting
Nearly every problem on this shrub shows up on the leaves or under the soil, and the cause is usually the wrong spot or too much water. The glossy foliage flags the trouble first, blackening in sun or sticky with pests. Match the look you see below, then fix the cause behind it rather than the mark itself.
Wilting plant with dark, mushy roots
Above ground the shrub droops and the glossy leaves fade to yellow; below ground the real trouble shows. Healthy roots are firm and white, but in soggy, waterlogged soil they turn brown, go soft, and carry a foul smell. That is root rot, driven by Phytophthora taking hold in ground that never drains. Aucuba shrugs off drought once established, so the cure is dry feet: open up the drainage, stop the heavy watering, and pull and discard any plant that has rotted through. Move the survivors into free-draining soil where the roots can breathe.
Fix:
- Improve drainage and stop overwatering
- Remove and discard severely affected plants
- Replant healthy specimens in well-drained soil
Sticky leaves with bumps or cottony specks on the stems
Touch a leaf and it feels tacky, and a sticky film often turns black with sooty mold. Turn the leaves over and trace the stems to find the culprits clinging there. Scale show as small hard armored bumps stuck tight to the bark; mealybugs look like soft white cottony tufts wedged into the leaf joints; and on indoor plants spider mites spin fine webbing across the undersides. Wipe or prune away the lightly infested parts, treat the rest with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap, and open up the air around plants kept inside.
Fix:
- Wipe off or prune lightly infested parts
- Treat with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap
- Improve air circulation for indoor plants
Leaves scorched black on the sun-facing side
Run your eye across the canopy and the damage tells its own story: the broad leathery leaves catching direct sun turn black and brittle, while the leaves tucked deep in the shaded interior keep their glossy green. The youngest, softest leaves blacken first, and a dry hot or cold wind crisps the margins to brown on top of it. This is purely cosmetic skin damage, not disease. Lift the shrub into deeper shade out of the wind, give it afternoon cover where summers run hot, and pick off the worst of the burned leaves so the fresh growth can take over.
Fix:
- Relocate or transplant to a shadier, wind-protected location
- Provide afternoon shade in hot climates
- Remove badly damaged leaves
Toxicity
Aucuba is low-severity poisonous, not deadly, but still no plant to let pets or children chew on. The fruits and leaves hold the glycoside aucubin, which brings nausea, vomiting, and stomach upset if eaten. The leaves are perfectly safe to touch and cause no skin rash, so the rule is simple: enjoy handling it, but keep the berries and leaves out of reach of small mouths.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Mild
A cat that chews the leaves or red berries will usually drool first, then vomit as the aucubin works on its stomach. The upset tends to settle on its own once the plant is gone, but if the vomiting drags on, get it to a vet.
Dogs Mild
A dog that swallows a mouthful of leaf or fruit gets vomiting and loose stool from the same glycoside. It stays mild and generally passes within a day, leaving little lasting harm.
Horses Mild
The aucubin in the foliage leaves a horse off its feed, with a queasy, unsettled stomach after grazing the leaves. Keep clippings and prunings away from where the horse can reach them.
Rabbits Mild
A rabbit suffers the same stomach upset, and because it is so small, very little leaf or berry is needed to make it sick. Offer no part of this plant to a rabbit.
Livestock Mild
Goats, sheep, and cattle that take a mouthful of the leaves drool and get a sour, churning stomach from the aucubin. Fence the shrub off from grazing animals.
Birds Caution
Wild birds eat the ripe red drupes through fall and winter and pass the seed unharmed, which is how the plant spreads. To be safe, keep cage birds away from the leaves.
People Caution
No part of this shrub is food. Swallowing the fruit or leaves brings on nausea and vomiting from the glycoside, but handling the foliage is fine and won't irritate skin. Keep the bright red berries away from small children.
Foliage does not cause contact dermatitis and is safe to touch; keep berries and leaves away from pets and small children.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Most named aucuba are picked for the way gold marks the leaf, or for an unusually small frame. These are the ones you are most likely to meet at the nursery.
Variegata (Gold Dust)
Glossy dark green leaves splashed all over with heavy yellow speckling, like flecks of gold dust scattered across the blade; the dusting reads brightest when the plant sits in full shade.
Picturata
Each leaf carries a bold golden-yellow center, ringed by a green margin that is itself flecked with yellow, so the color sits in the middle rather than around the edge.
Nana
A slow dwarf form that stays small, holding to roughly 3 feet by 3 feet, for tight corners where the full-size shrub would overrun the space.
Rozannie
A compact, self-fertile selection that sets its own bright red berries without a separate male plant nearby, unlike most aucuba.
How to propagate
Aucuba is easy to multiply, most simply from semi-hardwood cuttings or by layering a low branch into the soil. Just remember that it is dioecious, so keep track of which plants are male and which are female.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Summer to early fall (semi-hardwood cuttings) · 6 to 10 weeks to root
Take semi-hardwood cuttings from this year's firmed-up stems in summer to early fall, and they root over 6 to 10 weeks. Since the shrub is dioecious, label each cutting by the parent it came from so you know which plants are male and which are female down the line.
SeedModerate
Sow ripe seed in fall · Several weeks to germinate; slow to reach size
Sow the ripe seed taken from the red drupes in fall. Germination runs several weeks and the seedlings creep along slowly to any real size. They also come up variable, and you cannot tell a male from a female until that first flower opens.
LayeringEasy
Spring to summer · Several months to root
Pick a low, supple branch in spring or summer, peg it down into the soil, and leave it to root while it still draws on the parent. Rooting takes several months, so wait until it is firmly anchored before you cut it free.
Myths
Plant one aucuba on its own and it will reliably cover itself in bright red berries.
Most aucuba are dioecious, carrying male and female flowers on separate plants, and only a female bears the red drupes. She needs a male shrub nearby to fruit at all. The exception is Rozannie, a self-fertile cultivar that sets berries alone.
The gold-dusted leaves color up best with a good dose of sun.
The opposite holds. Strong direct sun scorches the foliage black, and the gold-speckled forms hold their brightest dusting in deep shade. Partial to full shade is where the leaves both stay glossy and keep their color.