Aucuba

Aucuba is a genus of three to ten species of flowering plants, now placed in the family Garryaceae, although formerly classified in the Aucubaceae or Cornaceae.

Aucuba species are native to eastern Asia, from the eastern Himalayas east to China, Korea, and Japan. The name is a latinization of Japanese Aokiba. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees 2–13 m tall, similar in appearance to the laurels of the genus Laurus, having glossy, leathery leaves, and are among the shrubs that are mistakenly called laurels in gardens.

The leaves are opposite, broad lanceolate, 8–25 cm long and 2–7 cm broad, with a few large teeth on the margin near the apex of the leaf. Aucubas are dioecious, having separate male and female plants. Flowers are small, 4–8 mm diameter, each with four purplish-brown petals; 10-30 are in loose cymes. Fruit are red drupes about 1 cm in diameter.