A cushion plant is a compact, low growing, mat forming plant that is found in alpine, subalpine, arctic, or subarctic environments around the world. The term "cushion" is usually applied to woody plants that grow as spreading mats, are limited in height above the ground (a few inches at most), have relatively large and deep tap roots, and have life histories adapted to slow growth in a nutrient poor environment with delayed reproductivity and reproductive cycle adaptations. The plant form is an example of parallel or convergent evolution with species from many different plant families on different continents converging on the same evolutionary adaptations to endure the harsh environmental conditions.
Azorella is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, native to South America, New Zealand and the islands of the Southern Ocean. The genus is sometimes placed in family Apiaceae.
They are low-growing dwarf mat-forming plants growing in high exposure on mountains and subantarctic coasts; with great age they may form rounded mounds of foliage up to 1 m high but are usually less than 1 dm high. Several species are grown as ornamental plants in rock gardens.