Drimys granadensis L.f.

Drimys granadensis has a tropical distribution north of the Equator, but populations in cooler areas at higher altitudes or higher latitudes seem to tolerate the mild parts of our study zone. Its attraction lies in its handsome, oblong to elliptic leaves, strikingly silver to white-glaucous below, and the clusters of fragrant, pure white flowers, larger than in other species of Drimys. It should be given a warm site in full sun, sheltered from cold winds, preferably in rich, well-drained, moist soil.

Grimshaw and Bayton (2009) found it was rare in collections and this continues to be the case. The commercial availability in the United Kingdom they mentioned seems to have dried up. The 2004 introduction by Bleddyn and Sue Wynn-Jones (BSWJ 10777) from 3,300 m in the páramo of La Caleva, south of Bogotá, Colombia is no longer available through their online nursery (Crûg Farm 2025). A plant of unknown origin was available from Nick Lock Plants at a flower show in Cornwall in 2018 (Cooper 2018), but there is scant evidence of availability since then. An introduction from seed collected by James Russell near Xalapa (hence var. mexicana) was said by Grimshaw and Bayton to have been the principal source of commercial availability in the UK, but only a couple of records of plants in gardens are to be found: one, at Tregrehan in Cornwall, began as a rather untidy shrubby plant, but later formed a leader and became more shapely, reaching about 2.5 m (T. Hudson pers. comm. 2025); another at Logan Botanic Garden on the west coast of Scotland was planted in 1984 and reached 5 m × 7 cm dbh in 2019. At Tremenheere Sculpture Garden, a plant possibly of the same source, measured 7 m × 10 cm in 2024 (The Tree Register 2025). A specimen planted at Wynkcoombe Arboretum, West Sussex, in 2007 did reasonably well for a few years, though it did not put on any strong growth; it succumbed suddenly during a drought that had no effect on a D. winteri planted nearby (S. Leese pers. comm. 2025). A plant at Iturraran Botanical Garden, Spain, sourced from Volcán Barva, Costa Rica, proved hardy and grew well till it was felled in a storm (F. Garin pers.comm. 2025).

In the United States, var. mexicana is found at the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, from a 1982 collection by B. Anderson in Costa Rica (University of California Botanical Gardens at Berkeley 2025). Plants reportedly growing at San Francisco Garden around 2008 are no longer listed in the garden’s database (Grimshaw & Bayton 2009, San Francisco Botanical Garden 2025). The species will likely remain a rarity in temperate gardens, but perhaps a plant for the future given climate change predictions.

The species was described in 1782 by Carl Linnaeus the Younger (son of the Father of Taxonomy) from a specimen collected in Colombia by José Celestino Mutis. De Candolle (1817) changed the spelling of the epithet to granatensis, and this was taken up by subsequent authors using it as a basionym, causing the orthographical variant to proliferate in references. A.C. Smith (1943) could not see a reason for de Candolle’s change, but it likely derives from an intention to correct Linnaeus Jr.’s Latin. Colombia was known as ‘Nueva Granada’ in Spanish or ‘Nova Granata’ in Latin. Epithets based on the Latin name are commonplace, as are those based on the Spanish spelling. The original publication, which is in Latin, seems to mix languages when giving the type location, citing it as ‘Nova Granada’. De Candolle must have seen this as an error for ‘Nova Granata’ and took it upon himself to amend the spelling of the epithet. The original spelling should be retained.