Azara integrifolia Ruiz & Pav.

Azara integrifolia was introduced to cultivation in the UK in 1832 via seed collected by Hugh Cuming from around Concepción in Chile. This was some 34 years after it was first described in 1798 by the Spanish botanists Ruiz and Pavon. Seed was germinated by the nurseryman Joseph Knight in his famous and incredibly successful enterprise, the Royal Exotic Nursery in King’s Road, London. Loudon made mention of A. integrifolia (and A. dentata) in his catalogue of plants cultivated in the gardens and nurseries in and around London (Loudon 1838). During Harold Comber’s relatively brief exploration on the Chilean side of the Andes in 1926, he was rewarded by finding A. integrifolia in fruit, which led to its reintroduction into UK cultivation. According to his field notes, Comber 565 was discovered in the forested environs of Llolli in ‘sunnier open places in the forest’ (Comber 1928); however, after extensive research, the place name of Llolli cannot be traced, but it is thought that his collection was made from the vicinity of Lago Carburga (a lake location often mentioned in his field notes).

This assumption is based on the fact that there are several places in this area having different versions of ‘Llolli’ in their names, for example, Picos Llollicupe (sometimes spelt Llollicupi) and Estero Sollipulli, the latter being a small river in a valley that connects to Reigolil. On the 22nd of February 1926, Comber’s collections mention Llolli and Reigolil (spelt ‘Regolil’ in his collecting book), and it is thought that he was using ‘Llolli’ as the name of the valley (V. Morales pers. comm. 2025). In 1934, material from Comber 565 cultivated at Nymans, West Sussex, UK, received an Award of Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. The report noted that ‘The rich green, glossy leaves, of ovate shape, are very handsome. The flowers are small but are rendered conspicuous by their clusters of deep yellow stamens.’ Azara integrifolia is not commonly encountered in cultivation in Britain and Ireland and is mostly restricted to botanic gardens and specialist private collections. The Tree Register of Britain and Ireland (Tree Register 2025) only mentions three specimens of note, one of which – a tree cultivated at Glasnevin Botanic Garden, Dublin (labelled A. integrifolia var. browneae) and mentioned by Bean (Bean 1976) – was likely the oldest specimen of A. integrifolia in cultivation, but sadly it died in 2015 (D. Lupton pers. comm. 2025). The two other trees mentioned are one growing at Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales (8.5 m tall in 2024) and at The Manor House, Walton-in-Gordano, North Somerset (8 m tall in 2024) (Tree Register 2025). Both these collections are from Gardner & Knees 4379, made in 1990 from Parque Tumbes de Talcahuano, forming part of a small peninsula just north of the coastal city of Concepción. This small 20 ha reserve, which protects a rare example of coastal rainforest that was once widespread in this part of Chile, is administered by the NGO Comité Nacional Pro Defensa de la Flora y Fauna (CODEFF) and the Municipality de Tallcahuano. Outside of the UK, Azara integrifolia is very occasionally cultivated in specialist collections in the United States (West Coast), Australia, New Zealand, and southern Europe.