aucuba

American  

[aw-kyuh-buh] / ˈɔ kyə bə /

noun

1. any shrub of the genus Aucuba, native to Asia, having evergreen leaves, clusters of purple flowers, and brightly colored berries.

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Etymology

Origin of aucuba

1783; < New Latin, apparently < Japanese a ( w ) o-ku being green + -ba combining form of ha leaf (earlier fa, *pa ); compare the Japanese name for the shrub ao-ki < a ( w ) o green + ki ( y ) tree (earlier *koi )

Example Sentences

A few bushes of aucuba and fuchsia scarcely claimed for the oblong space enclosed in front the name of a garden.

From The Argosy Vol. 51, No. 6, June, 1891 by Wood, Charles W.

B. p. aucubifolia is the Double Daisy, having a beautifully variegated foliage, mottled with golden-yellow in the way of the aucuba.

From Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers Describing the Most Desirable Plants, for Borders, Rockeries, and Shrubberies. by Wood, John

A conspicuous example of a dioecious plant is the common aucuba, of which for years only the female plant was known in Britain.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various

The place was a garden, somewhat gone to waste, with a gravel drive running round a great circle of periwinkles with a spotted aucuba in the middle.

From The Carbonels by Stacey, W. S. (Walter S.)

Each of these wickets opened on a narrow path which ran among the shrubberies of box and aucuba to the left and right of the main avenue.

From The Eight Strokes of the Clock by Leblanc, Maurice