Fuchsia is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees.
The first, Fuchsia triphylla, was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola about
1696–1697 by the French Minim monk and botanist, Charles Plumier during his third expedition
to the Greater Antilles. He named the new genus after the renowned German botanist Leonhart
Fuchs.
Description
There are currently almost 110 recognized species of Fuchsia. The vast majority are
native to South America, but with a few occurring north through Central America to Mexico, and
also several from New Zealand to Tahiti. One species, F. magellanica, extends as far as
the southern tip of South America, occurring on Tierra del Fuego in the cool temperate
zone, but the majority are tropical or subtropical. Most fuchsias are shrubs from 0.2–4 m tall,
but one New Zealand species, the kōtukutuku, is unusual in the genus in being a tree, growing
up to 12–15 metres tall. Fuchsia leaves are opposite or in whorls of
3–5, simple lanceolate and usually have serrated margins, 1–25 cm long, and can
be either deciduous or evergreen, depending on the species. The flowers are very decorative;
they have a pendulous "teardrop" shape and are displayed in profusion throughout the
summer and autumn, and all year in tropical species. They have four long, slender sepals
and four shorter, broader petals; in many species the sepals are bright red and the
petals purple, but the colours can vary from white to dark red, purple-blue, and orange.
A few have yellowish tones, and recent hybrids have added the colour white in various combinations.
The ovary is inferior and the fruit is a small dark reddish green, deep red, or deep purple
berry, containing numerous very small seeds. The fruit of all fuchsia species and cultivars
is edible, with the berry of F. splendens reportedly among the best-tasting. Its flavor
is reminiscent of citrus and pepper, and it can be made into jam. The fruits of some other
fuchsias are flavorless or leave a bad aftertaste. Species
The majority of fuchsia species are native to Central and South America. A small additional
number are found on Hispaniola, in New Zealand and on Tahiti. Philip A. Munz in his A Revision
of the Genus Fuchsia classified the genus into seven sections of 100 species. More recent
scientific publications, especially those by the botanists Dennis E. Breedlove of the
University of California and, currently, Paul E. Berry of the University of Michigan, recognize
108 species and 122 taxa, organized into twelve sections. In New Zealand and Tahiti, section
Skinnera now consists of only three species as F. × colensoi has been determined to be
a naturally occurring hybrid between F. excorticata and F. perscandens. Also, F. procumbens has
been placed into its own section, Procumbentes. Two other new sections are Pachyrrhiza and
Verrucosa, each with one species each. The Plant List, a cooperative endeavor by several
leading botanical institutions to maintain a working list of all plant species, lists
most currently accepted Fuchsia species and synonyms.
The vast majority of garden hybrids have descended from a few parent species.
Section 1: Ellobium Mexico and Costa Rica. This section contains
three species. Fuchsia decidua
Fuchsia fulgens Fuchsia splendens
F. splendens var. splendens F. splendens var. cordifolia
Section 2: Encliandra Mexico to Panama. Flowers on the six species
in this section have flat petals and short stamens and are reflexed into the tube. Fruits
contain few seeds.
Section 3: Fuchsia
Northern Argentina to Colombia and Venezuela, and Hispaniola. With sixty-four currently
recognized species, Sect. Fuchsia is the largest section within the genus. The flowers are
perfect, with convolute petals. The stamens are erect and may or may not be exserted from
the corolla; the stamens opposite the petals are shorter. The fruit has many seeds.
Section 4: Hemsleyella Venezuela to Bolivia. The fifteen species
in this section are characterised by a nectary that is fused with the base of the flower
tube and petals that are partly or completely lacking.
Section 5: Jimenezia Panama and Costa Rica.
Fuchsia jimenezii Section 6: Kierschlegeria
Coastal central Chile. This section is made up of a single species with pendulous axillary
pedicels. The leaves are sparse. The sepals are reflexed and slightly shorter than the
tube. Fuchsia lycioides
Section 7: Pachyrrhiza Peru.
Fuchsia pachyrrhiza Section 8: Procumbentes
New Zealand. Fuchsia procumbens
Section 9: Quelusia
Southern Argentina and Chile, and Southeastern Brazil. The nine species in this section have
the nectary fused to the base of the tube, or hypanthium. The hypanthium is cylindrical
and is generally no longer than the sepals. The stamens are long and are exserted beyond
the corolla.
Section 10: Schufia Mexico to Panama. These two species bear flowers
in an erect, corymb-like panicle. Fuchsia arborescens
Fuchsia paniculata Fuchsia paniculata subsp. mixensis
Fuchsia paniculata subsp. paniculata
Section 11: Skinnera New Zealand and Tahiti. The three living species
have a floral tube with a swelling above the ovary. The sepals curve back on themselves
and the petals are small or nearly absent. A new fossil species from the Early Miocene
in New Zealand was described in October, 2013. †Fuchsia antiqua
Fuchsia cyrtandroides Fuchsia excorticata
Fuchsia perscandens Fuchsia × colensoi - a natural hybrid
Section 12: Verrucosa Venezuela and Colombia.
Fuchsia verrucosa Cultivation
Fuchsias are popular garden shrubs, and once planted can live for years with a minimal
amount of care. The British Fuchsia Society maintains a list of "hardy" fuchsias that
have been proven to survive a number of winters throughout Britain and to be back in flower
each year by July. Enthusiasts report that hundreds and even thousands of hybrids survive
and prosper throughout Britain. In the United States, the Northwest Fuchsia Society maintains
an extensive list of fuchsias that have proven hardy in members' gardens in the Pacific Northwest
over at least three winters. Fuchsias from sections Quelusia, Encliandra,
Skinnera and Procumbentes have especially proven to be hardy in widespread areas of
Britain and Ireland, as well as in many other countries such as New Zealand or the Pacific
Northwest region of the United States. A number of species will easily survive outdoors in
agreeable mild temperate areas. Though some may not always flower in the average British
summer, they will often perform well in other favorable climatic zones. Even in somewhat
colder regions, a number of the hardier species will often survive as herbaceous perennials,
dying back and reshooting from below ground in the spring.
Due to the favorably mild, temperate climate created by the North Atlantic Current, fuchsias
grow abundantly in the West Cork region of Ireland and in the Scilly Isles, and have
even colonised wild areas there. While F. magellanica is not widespread in Scotland
it has been known to grow wild in sheltered areas, such as the banks of local streams
in Fife. In the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, F. magellanica also easily
survives regional winters. Categories
Horticultural fuchsias may be categorised as upright and bushy or trailing, and some
can be trained as hedges, such as F. magellanica. Faster-growing varieties are easiest to train.
Unless specific hardy varieties are chosen, most popular upright Fuchsias such as 'Ernie',
'Jollies Nantes' and 'Maria Landy' are not winter hardy, but rather extremely tender.
Cultivars Sixty cultivated varieties of fuchsia have
gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Some cultivars popular in
Great Britain include: 'Alice Hoffman'
'Dollar Princess' 'Garden News'
'Genii' 'Hawkshead'
'Lady Thumb' 'Mrs Popple'
'Riccartonii' 'Swingtime'
'Thalia' 'Tom Thumb'
Pests and diseases
Fuchsias are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, such as the Elephant Hawk-moth
and the Black-lyre Leafroller Moth. Other major insect pests include aphids, mirid bugs
such as Lygocoris, Lygus and Plesiocoris spp., vine weevils, and greenhouse whitefly. Problematic
mites include the fuchsia gall mite and red spider mite.
Pronunciation and spelling While the original pronunciation from the
word's German origin is "fook-sya" , the standard pronunciation in English is "fyusha" . As
a consequence, fuchsia is often misspelled as fuschia in English.
History
Leonhart Fuchs was born in 1501. He occupied the chair of Medicine at the Tübingen University
from the age of 34 until his death, on 10 May 1566. Besides his medical knowledge, according
to his record of activities which was extensive for the time, he studied plants. This was
natural, as most of the remedies of the time were herbal and the two subjects were often
inseparable. In the course of his career Fuchs wrote De
Historia Stirpium Commentarii Insignes, which was published in 1542. In honour of Fuchs'
work the fuchsia received its name shortly before 1703 by Charles Plumier. It was Plumier
who compiled his Nova Plantarum Americanum, which was published in Paris in 1703, based
on the results of his plant-finding trip to America in search of new genera.
The fuchsia was introduced to England in the 18th century by Plumier who took some seeds
there after his expedition. The species he took was Fuchsia triphylla flore coccinea
where specimens appeared in France. There is a reference to a fuchsia under the name
of "Thiles" in the Journal des Observations Botaniques in 1725. Thiles seems to be the
French version of the Spanish, Thilco or Tilco. However, Thilco, or more properly Chilco,
is derived from the name by which the indigenous Mapuche people of Southern Chile and Southwestern
Argentina referred to their native Fuchsia magellanica. In the Mapuche language, Chilco
means "that which grows near the water" and this is a reference to its being found growing
abundantly in moist but well-drained areas along streams and lakes. In Chile today, F.
magellanica is still called Chilco. Professor Philip Munz, in his A Revision of
the Genus Fuchsia, 1793 says, however, that the fuchsia was first introduced into England
by a sailor who grew it in a window where it was observed by a nurseryman from Hammersmith,
a Mr. Lee, who succeeded in buying it and propagating it for the trade. This was one
of the short tubed species such as magellanica or coccinea.
This report is further embellished in various publications where Captain Firth, a sailor,
brought the plant back to England from one of his trips to his home in Hammersmith where
he gave it to his wife. Later on James Lee of St. Johns Wood, nurseryman and an astute
businessman, heard of the plant and purchased it for £80. He then propagated as many as
possible and sold them to the trade for prices ranging from £10 to £20 each.
In the Floricultural Cabinet, 1855, there is a report which varies slightly from the
above. Here it says that F. coccinea was given to Kew Garden in 1788 by Captain Firth and
that Lee acquired it from Kew. By this time plant-collecting fever had spread
and many species of numerous genera were introduced to England, some living plants, others as
seed. The following plants were recorded at Kew: F. lycioides, 1796; F. arborescens, 1824;
F. microphylla, 1827; F. fulgens, 1830; F. corymbiflora, 1840; and F. apetala, F. decussata,
F. dependens and F. serratifolia in 1843 and 1844, the last four species attributable to
Messrs. Veitch of Exeter. With the increasing numbers of differing species
in England plant breeders began to immediately develop hybrids to develop more desirable
garden plants. The first recorded experiments date to 1825 as F. arborescens Χ F. macrostemma
and F. arborescens X F. coccinea where the quality of the resultant plants was unrecorded.
Between 1835 and 1850 there was a tremendous influx to England of both hybrids and varieties,
the majority of which have been lost. In 1848 Monsieur Felix Porcher published the
second edition of his book Le Fuchsia son Histoire et sa Culture. This described 520
species. In 1871 in later editions of M. Porchers book reference is made to James Lye who was
to become famous as a breeder of fuchsias in England. In 1883 the first book of English
fuchsias was published. Between 1900 and 1914 many of the famous varieties
were produced which were grown extensively for Covent Garden market by many growers just
outside London. During the period between the world wars, fuchsia-growing slowed as
efforts were made toward crop production until after 1949, when plant and hybrid production
resumed on a large scale. In the United States, members of the American
Fuchsia Society brought back approximately 50 plants to California from a trip to Europe
in 1930. Half of these were cultivated at the University of California Botanical Garden
in Berkeley and the other half at the Berkeley Horticultural Nursery, a local business. Many
American hybrids were the descendants of this 1930 group.
References
External links Local and national fuchsia societies
The British Fuchsia Society American Fuchsia Society
Information Pages on Fuchsia Plants Fuchsia Photos
Fuchsia Care Guide RHS Fuchsia Growing Advice