Perennial of the Apiaceae family, Azorella trifurcata is native to South America, mainly from the Andean regions of Chile and Argentina, where it forms vast cushions in high-altitude steppes, rocky lawns, and screes exposed to the wind, between approximately 1,500 and 3,500 meters.
It is one of the most striking examples of the cushion form in the plant world: compact, hard, and tight domes, reaching 30 to 50 cm in height for several meters in diameter in nature, but remaining much more modest in cultivation. The foliage is composed of very small, leathery, trilobed, and shiny leaves, from bright green to yellowish green, so closely interlocked that they form an almost solid surface to the touch.
The flowers are tiny, yellow-green, grouped in sessile umbels that surface at the cushion without exceeding it. In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from November to January in the southern hemisphere. In cultivation under our latitudes, it generally occurs in June-July.
It requires a very well-drained, poor soil, in full sun, with good winter protection against stagnant moisture. Its growth is slow. The surface of the cushion, firm and geometric, has a rare sculptural quality that distinguishes it from all other rock garden plants.