Aucuba, Japanese Aucuba, Japanese Laurel 'Picturata'

This is the male version of this plant. I have one of the female versions, which I think is "Gold Dust". The green is a medium instea...Read Mored of the dark shown here. The female version will produce red berries if there is a male plant nearby. This information comes from a book, "Foliage" by Nancy J. Ondra.
I love the foliage on this and started bringing it in, in the winter, to use instead of fresh flowers. All the plants rooted in plain tap water, with no fertilizer, etc. They lasted about 3 months, in no light from a window, before some of the leaves would develop black spots on them.
I have two plants that are in complete shade. They have stayed the same size for years, about 30" high. They have a single stem, with no branching.
Before she died, my Mom put a plant in full sun in the back yard as a holding measure for a few days until she decided where she wanted it.
That was about 8 years ago. The plant has grown into a small grove, with the oldest plants about 5'-6' high and the youngest about 3.' they appear to have propagated by underground runners. They grow in clusters of about three plants together before spacing about 6" to start another cluster. This sunlight info is contrary to all the information I have read about this plant.
I do not water either location. There have previously been no problems with pests or disease, until black spot developed on the grove ones; they are very tightly packed, and a family gardener told me they needed more air and that is why they got the black spot.
When I looked today, something has been chewing on the grove ones; the relative says the immune system has been weakened by the spacing; if I transfer them so they are properly spaced, the pest will cease the dining.
I would love to find a male cutting; it is on my definite buy/swap (preferred) list.
These are dramatic evergreens that make a show all year round and need no maintenance when treated properly to start with, and if the rainfall is reasonable. They have a definite pruning place at the top if you want to limit height.
The cherry on the top is the red berries; I had no idea there were male and female plants.
The new home for the grove plants is going to be against a north wall with eaves on the second floor; that way I will be able to cut one of the cluster stems from each group for tall foliage in the house.
I also plan to try these as a house plant, rotating them in/out every two months, since they did not develop the black spot until the third month.
This plant deserves a 5 star rating; I would give it a twelve if there was such a thing.
Tip: if you would like to combine dried and fresh material, use a chemistry tube to keep the dry material out of the water, or medicine bottles for small items. In large bouquets, I also use corsage water holders for short things such as statice; they can be placed among the material instead of in the water.

Planted a row of these under a front picture window in light shade. This variety is showier than most other aucubas, having large yellow ...Read Moreareas in the leaves instead of small spots. They are great for brightening up a rather dark area, and after 5 years they are still doing very well. They get slow-drip irrigated once every three days, so I can't comment on drought-hardiness. No pest or other problems. A little hard to find in this area; I got lucky.