The Japanese Aucuba as it is commonly called is a perennial shrub. It belongs to the Cornaceae family. Its scientific name is Aucuba Japonica. The other common names by which the Japanese Aucuba plants are known are Aucuba, Japanese Laurel and Japanese Aucuba. It is an evergreen shrub which can tolerate shade so it is planted many times under large trees. The Japanese Aucuba plant has glossy green leaves which are very shiny. They are also planted on the North and East sides of the home gardens as foundation plant. The Japanese Aucuba can grow up to the height of 15 feet and form a shape which looks round. It has bright red fruits which are fleshy and grows on the plant itself. The fruit is oval and les than 5 inches and bright red fruits.

The Japanese Aucuba is a slow growing evergreen shrub thus it should be planted close together. They are tough and can tolerate different types of soil. Though it is not a plant which requires very much care, the soil required to grow the Japanese Aucuba should be moist and well drained. The Japanese Aucuba grows well in sandy loam rich soil with which some organic materials have been added. In orders to use it as a beautiful landscape and give it a beautiful effect  the Japanese Aucuba should be planted at a distance of two to three feet apart from each other. As it grows very slowly pruning is very rarely required.

The Japanese Aucuba is a house friendly plant and it used for mass planting, in terraces where they are planted in hanging pots or containers, in patios. As the Japanese Aucuba has multi-stems and grows in an irregular manner it looks very beautiful when used in an informal way and for small areas the compact as well as dense form is used. The Japanese Aucuba makes a very good house plant and often used in home gardens.

The other species or varieties of Japanese Aucuba include Crotonifolia which has white spotted leaves, Nana has compact as well as dwarf sized leaves, Goldieana has mostly yellow leaves and the Variegata has leaves which are yellow spotted. The propagation of the Japanese Aucuba can be done by cutting. There is no disease that may be of major concern that infest a Japanese Aucuba

The early spring or late winter is the time when blue or purple flowers start to bloom. An interesting fact about the Japanese Aucuba is that if a male plant is planted nearby the female plant produces bright red berries which are about 3inches and clustered during winters. The berries can be seen all through the winters   The Japanese Aucuba can be planted indoors and grow very well in containers that are kept in the terraces or home gardens

As the Japanese Aucuba has flowers in great variety of colors due to which landscape of the area where it is grown looks very bright and attractive. The leaves of each plant differ from each other in many ways. Some plants have only a few flecks of yellow in their leaves, while others have yellow leaves with few flecks of green. If the leaves of the plant receive sunlight in winters or during summers they will become greensick.