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Azara petiolaris (D. Don) Johnston

Modern name

Azara petiolaris (D.Don) I.M.Johnst.

Synonyms

Quillaya petiolaris D. Don; Azara gilliesii Hook. & Arn.

An evergreen shrub or small tree. Leaves holly-like, pointed, ovate or oval, 112 to 3 in. long, with distant teeth, deep lustrous green, pale beneath, glabrous. Flowers densely crowded on racemes scarcely 1 in. long, springing from the axils of the leaves. Each flower is small, creamy yellow, the beauty of the raceme being due entirely to the numerous comparatively long stamens, which hide the remainder of the flower. Bot. Mag., t. 5178. This charming shrub, a native of Chile, is the most ornamental of cultivated azaras in its blossoms, but is, unfortunately, not hardy enough to succeed in the open at Kew. Against a wall where it receives additional heat from a near-by stoke-hole, it flowers well every year in April and May. It is, however, more suited to the milder parts of the country. There are three old specimens in the Glasnevin Botanic Garden, Dublin, growing on walls, the tallest 12 ft high with a spread of about 9 ft. At Mount Usher, Co. Wicklow, it is 17 ft high.


Genus

Azara

Other species in the genus