Lapageria first appear to have entered the UC Botanical Garden's collection through the efforts of T Harper Goodspeed, a professor of botany who, as curator or director, was deeply involved in the development of the Garden from 1919 to 1957. Goodspeed made six collecting expeditions to the Andes of South America; a seventh was launched under Dr Herbert Baker's directorship. While his primary focus was on members of the genus Nicotiana, he and expedition members collected a range of Andean material including many cacti and succulents still present in the Garden's New World Desert Area and Arid House. A wild accession of Lapageria rosea, collected near Trumao, Chile, and dating to Goodspeed's 1935-1936 expedition, continues to thrive in the South American Area of the Garden.

Subsequent additions of Lapageria to the collection were numerous, and nearly all were cultivate "of" 'Horticultural origin received directly from Chilean sources. Goodspeed, and his colleague, Garden botanist Paul Hutchison, established a lasting relationship with the nursery at El Vergel Farm, a Methodist mission and agricultural school in Angol, Chile. Lapageria cultivation at El Vergel appears to have been conducted by director Dr Dillman Bullock and horticulturist Elbert Reed. Bullock's name appears in the accession records of the Garden as a source of Lapageria plants and seed; he is also cited in Goodspeed's fascinating account of his collecting expeditions, Plant Hunters in the Andes, published by UC Press in 1961. Hutchison accompanied Goodspeed on his fifth expedition to Chile in 1951 and 1952. Garden records indicate that Hutchison obtained a large number of Lapageria cultivars from El Vergel during this expedition. In his book, Goodspeed describes bringing plants back from Chile as expedition members returned to San Francisco on a Grace Line freighter. Plants were grown in soil-filled tubs on the ship's deck, where they were given constant attention. Upon arrival, soil was washed from their roots for agricultural inspection, and the plants were rushed to Berkeley to be properly repotted. He planted them out in the Garden in both the South American Area and in the Asian Area. They particularly prospered in the latter site due to its moist and humid growing conditions under a redwood canopy. Several of these cultivars, including 'Collinge' (syn. 'Dr Bullock') and 'Ligtromu' (syn. 'Whte Cloud') still grow in the Garden. Throughout the 1960s, Hutchison obtained more plants from El Vergel by mail,

Hutchison also grew Lapageria from seed sent to him from Dr Bullock. He selected a seedling of special merit grown from seed obtained by Bullock from a plant of the cultivar 'Ligtromu' at El Vergel. Hutchison named it 'Mission Lace' in 1955; it is probably the first cultivar of L. rosea named in California. It still grows in the Garden and is available in the nursery trade.

Over the years, the Garden developed a volunteer corps, which at some point began propagating plants from the collection to be sold in support of the Garden. Lapageria have been a key part of that volunteer propagation program for many years. In 1990, Garden volunteer Sarah Wikander and others began propagating the wild-collected stock as well as the named cultivars and selling them at plant sales. She obtained additional cultivars from local plant- collectors, and interacted extensively with Alek Koomanoff, who, at the time, ran the nursery at Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens (now San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum). Garden staff member Martin Grantham also supported her efforts and assisted with propagation. Sarah brought back more plants from El Vergel when she visited there in 1992. She also began a breeding program, making crosses and recording the color distribution- of her seedlings. Her work resulted in the widespread distribution of Lapageria to Bay Area gardeners throughout the 1990s, sparking and encouraging interest in this garden-worthy plant.

Garden volunteer Carlos Rendon succeeded Sarah in working with the Lapageria in 2001. He began another propagation program on a larger scale, producing plants from both cuttings and from seeds produced through hand-pollination of the flowers. He set up a catalogue system for tracking seedlings that included information on parentage, general vigor, and floral characteristics. It takes three to five years for Lapageria to flower from seed, so this effort, along with Sarah's previous work, represents a major commitment to the horticultural development of this striking plant. We hope that Carlos's database will assist in defining more effective methodologies for Lapageria culture and propagation, and provide specific information on the outcomes of hybridization. Carlos also made a commitment to search for propagation material of cultivars not already in the Garden's possession. He focused particular energy on obtaining Chilean cultivars, including many that had been lost from the Garden's collection over the years. A number of selections were obtained in 2004 through generous donations from Marin County collector Alejandro Montenegro, who was born in Chile.

Cultivars fall into four main color groups: reds (eg 'Caupolican', 'Beatrix Anderson'), whites (eg 'Ligtromu', 'Toqui'), pinks (eg 'Colibri', 'Qngol'), and picotee or bi colored (eg 'Collinge', 'Relmutral'). Other variations include spotted cultivars, such as the red 'Mission Lace', and a double or semi-double red called 'Quelipichum'. Known in Chile by the common name of copihue, most of the cultivars arising from El Vergel have names derived from the language of the native Chilean Mapuche people. Spanish and English names, often translations, have been applied for many cultivars; for example 'Ligtromu' is also known by the names 'Nube Blanca' and 'White Cloud'. 

NB:-   in 2009 Carlos stepped down from his roll as volunteer propagator at Berkeley Botanic but before doing so he arranged that most of the plants held in their collection were made available to us here at Roseland and of course the large quantity of plants he produced will mean that in California at least most varieties are not down to just one or two individual plants as was previously the case.