At Last….

The production of fruit on this stunning Aucuba has been a project in the making for a long time. The original plant came from Edward Needham and is the female in this image. Right next to it a number of years later I planted the collection from Roy Lancaster which is the male clone. Recently when we were picking up a large sweet chestnut that had fallen over right next to the Aucubas the crew noticed these red fruits. This is the first time we had seen this so hopefully as the small trees become mature there should be quite a winter display. As with most Aucuba they appreciate being planted as understory plants in quite deep shade, this keeps the foliage a good shade of green.

Both of these two collections came from Emei shan in West Sichuan many years ago when there was less regulation on seed introduction. They grow fairly low down on the mountain in wet evergreen forest but still seems reasonably hardy in UK cultivation away from freezing winds, and promise to grow into a small trees unlike many of the other dwarf species. The leathery foliage with a pale underside is attention grabbing in all seasons as can be seen here in the lower image of the male plant.

There is much debate concerning the taxonomy of this species and most scientists now place it under Aucuba chinensis along with other forms such as obcordata and angustifolia. I observed a plant recently that seemed to have several foliage forms on the same plant! This does indicate a quite unstable leaf and plant foliage so maybe A. chinensis is the best baseline species in fact and the other names are listed as forms of this, or as geographical varieties.