Aucuba japonica Spotted-laurel

Commonly found in parks and gardens and often planted in shruberies on industrial estates. The thick, yellow-speckled, toothed, laurel-like leaves are quite distinctive and make identification fairly straight forward. It is of Asian origin and British plants were probably derived from a yellow-spotted form from Japan. It produces clusters of scarlet berries which are eaten by birds and this provides it with a means of seed dispersal. Naturalised plants are found occasionally.

Neophyte