How to get Azalea trees in Minecraft

Introduced with Minecraft's lush cave biome in the 1.17 Caves & Cliffs update, Azalea trees are easily distinguished by their pink flowering.

Currently, they are the only plants in Minecraft known to possess a root system that can run deep into the earth and through the lush caves themselves. It's for this reason that the presence of an Azalea tree usually denotes where a lush cave is underground.

Azalea trees will typically spawn above the lush caves in order to run their roots downward, but they can also be found within the caves themselves if given enough room to grow.

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Minecraft: Where to find Azaleas in version 1.17

Lush caves and Azaleas can only be found in buffet or custom worlds until version 1.18. (Image via Mojang)

At the moment, Minecraft players hoping to find Azaleas and lush caves will be out of luck if they are in a standard world with normal natural generation rules. At the moment, only buffet worlds or custom game worlds can feature lush caves naturally in Java Edition.

Minecraft: Bedrock Edition can also feature lush caves if its "experimental gameplay" setting is toggled on. However, Minecraft version 1.18's experimental snapshots have shown that lush caves will generate naturally and somewhat smaller than their current iterations.

Regardless, players searching for Azaleas should keep an eye on any and all above-ground trees. Azaleas are easily spotted due to their pink flowers if they are currently in bloom.

If not, Azaleas can be distinguished by the rooted dirt underneath them, as well as the hanging roots they leave well beneath them going into the underground. For players who have found a lush cave, it is possible to dig upward and follow the roots of the Azalea tree back to its source.

Azalea trees in Minecraft also possess a slightly unusual leaf pattern when compared to standard oak, pine, and birch trees. This may also help them stand out when not fully-bloomed.

Since their wooden log blocks are the same as oak trees, keeping an eye out for the leaf patterns and potential flowering will be ideal when trying to find these trees. Since Azaleas currently spawn only in and atop lush cave biomes, trying to spot the biome itself can be helpful if the tree isn't already apparent.

Guessing from many Minecraft screenshots shared by the community, lush caves are fairly temperate biomes and can appear in many larger biomes such as standard grassy biomes, snowy taiga biomes, or even desert biomes on occasion. Players will want to keep a look out for any cave openings in order to find lush caves.

Either the Azalea tree will be found atop the biome, or the biome will be found below first, either way, the signs will point to Azaleas thanks to its unique root system tying it directly to the biome.

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