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 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

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

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

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.)

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.