Japanese Aucuba is a very popular shrub, it is used in landscape design in southern countries. Originally a plant from East Asia. In the north, aucuba is most often grown as a houseplant and adorns not only window sills of houses, but also winter gardens.
The appearance of this flower is very bright and memorable. Japanese Aucuba in height can reach 1.8 meters. Its crown is spreading, but its shape can be easily controlled with the help of annual spring pruning. The leaves of the plant are oval, elongated, serrate along the edges. Their size is 10 - 13 centimeters. Bright golden yellow spots of a wide variety of shapes adorn the foliage. It is for this feature of the aucub that the people received the name of the golden tree. The plant rarely blooms, after which spectacular bright red fruits appear on the branches.
Aukuba Japanese variegated has many garden forms. All varieties differ in shape and color of leaves. The most common form is Variegata. It is distinguished by light green, white, yellow and cream spots on the leaves. With proper care, the number of these bright spots becomes much larger. Small reddish nondescript flowers collected in panicle inflorescences are of no interest to plant growers. In order to obtain seeds, an aucubus must be artificially pollinated. The fruits of this plant are red berries, they are spectacular, colorful and decorative, but, unfortunately, are poisonous.
The place for this flower is chosen illuminated, but it is necessary to ensure that direct sunlight does not burn the leaves. Aukuba Japanese feels very well in the warm season in the open air. That is why for the summer it is better to transfer it to the garden, well, or at least to the balcony. In winter, it is kept indoors at a temperature of + 10 ... 15 degrees, while watering is moderate, 1-2 times a week. The leaves are sprayed. With the advent of spring, watering is increasing. The soil of the plant should be constantly moist, drying out of an earthen coma is unacceptable. But it should be noted that adult plants tolerate both short-term drought and dry air.
Japanese Aucuba needs to be fed. It is fertilized from spring to autumn, once every one to two weeks, with a mineral complex for garden or indoor flowers. The plant easily tolerates decorative pruning. Propagate the flower in a vegetative way. As the best planting material, apical cuttings are taken. They are planted in a pre-prepared mixture of humus, leaf soil, turf and sand in a ratio of 2: 2: 2: 1. The plant is transplanted annually for 4-5 years, adult large specimens - only once every 5 years. Some experienced gardeners recommend simply periodically taking a certain amount of land from the tub and adding a new one. When transplanting young plants, it is necessary to be especially careful about the integrity of the earthen coma, the roots of the flower are very brittle and fragile. The plant rarely gets sick, the main danger is aphids and scale insects. With an excess of moisture on the leaves often appear ugly, spoiling the aesthetic appearance of black spots.
Japanese Aucuba is very useful, a photo of it can be seen in collections of recipes for traditional medicine. Its crushed leaves are great for frostbite, burns and bruises. In pharmacy, Aucuba is part of the drugs that stimulate the stomach.