Fuchsia is a
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
of flowering
plantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
s, mostly
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s, and can grow long shoots, which were identified by
Charles PlumierCharles Plumier was a French botanist, after whom the genus Plumeria, or Frangipani is named.-Biography:Born in Marseille, at the age of sixteen he entered the religious order of the Minims...
in the late-17th century, and named by
PlumierCharles Plumier was a French botanist, after whom the genus Plumeria, or Frangipani is named.-Biography:Born in Marseille, at the age of sixteen he entered the religious order of the Minims...
in 1703 after the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
botanist
Leonhart FuchsLeonhart Fuchs , sometimes spelled Leonhard Fuchs, was a German physician and one of the three founding fathers of botany, along with Otto Brunfels and Hieronymus Bock .-Biography:...
(1501–1566). The English name
fuchsias is frequently misspelled
"fuschias".
Description
There are about 100–110 species of Fuchsia. The great majority are native to
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
, but with a few occurring north through
Central AmericaManagua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
to
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and also several from
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
to
TahitiTahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. The island had a population of 178,133 inhabitants according to the August 2007 census. This makes it the most populous island of French Polynesia,...
and Mediterranean countries
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
,
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. One species,
Fuchsia magellanica, extends as far as the southern tip of South America, occurring on
Tierra del FuegoTierra del Fuego or TF is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The southern point of the archipelago forms Cape Horn.- History :...
in the cool
temperateIn geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. But in continental areas, such as central North America the variations between summer...
zone, but the majority are tropical or subtropical. Most fuchsias are shrubs from 0.2–4 m (8 in-13 ft) tall, but one
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
species, Kotukutuku (
Fuchsia excorticataFuchsia excorticata, the New Zealand Fuchsia also known as Kotukutuku, is a New Zealand native tree belonging to the family Onagraceae. It is found commonly throughout New Zealand and as far south as the Auckland Islands. It grows from sea level up to about 1,000 m, particularly alongside creeks...
), is unusual in the genus in being a
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
, growing up to 12–15 m (39-49 ft) tall.
Fuchsia
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
are opposite or in whorls of 3–5, simple lanceolate and usually have serrated margins (entire in some species), 1–25 cm long, and can be either
deciduousDeciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
or
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
, depending on the species. The
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s are very decorative, pendulous "eardrop" shape, borne 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 (colours that attract the
hummingbirdHummingbirds are among the smallest of birds, and include the smallest extant bird species, the Bee Hummingbirds. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 12-90 times per second . They can also fly backwards, and are the only group of birds able to do so. Their English name derives...
s that pollinate them), 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
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
is a small (5–25 mm) dark reddish green, deep red, or deep purple, edible epigynous berry, containing numerous very small seeds. Many people describe the fruit as having a subtle
grapeA grape is the non-climacteric fruit, botanically a true berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, and grape seed oil...
flavor spiced with
black pepperBlack pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is a small drupe approximately five millimetres in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single...
.
Species
Felix Munz in his
The Genus Fuchsia classified the genus into seven sections of 100 species. The majority of species, 94 of them, originate in Central and South America, West Indies, Haiti and Cuba. The other 6 species were found in New Zealand and Tahiti.
The vast majority of garden hybrids have descended from a few parent species.
Section 1: Quelusia
Species in this section have the nectary fused to the base of the hypanthium (tube). The hypanthium is cylinder shaped and is generally no longer than the sepals. The stamens are long and extend beyond the corolla (petals) (exserted).
- Fuchsia alpestris
- Fuchsia bracelinae
- Fuchsia brevilobis
- Fuchsia campos-portoi
- Fuchsia coccinea
- Fuchsia glazioviana
- Fuchsia hatschbachii
- Fuchsia magellanica
Fuchsia magellanica, is a species of flowering plant in the family Onagraceae. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant....
- Fuchsia regia
Section 2: Fuchsia
Sect.
Fuchsia (syn.
Eufuchsia) is the largest section of fuchsias. Flowers are perfect with convolute petals erect stamens that may or may not project beyond the corolla, the stamens opposite the petals are shorter. The fruit has many seeds.
- Fuchsia abrupta
- Fuchsia andrei
- Fuchsia asperifolia
- Fuchsia aspaiziu
- Fuchsia asplundii
- Fuchsia austromontana
- Fuchsia ayavacensis
- Fuchsia boliviana
Fuchsia boliviana is native to southern Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina and is a medium evergreen shrub, with large, hairy mid-green leaves and red petioles. It has large drooping corymbs of scarlet red flowers with individual flowers up to 20 centimeters long borne in late summer and autumn....
- Fuchsia canescens
- Fuchsia confertifolia
- Fuchsia cordifolia
- Fuchsia corymbiflora
- Fuchsia cuatresasasii
- Fuchsia decussata
- Fuchsia denticulata
- Fuchsia fischeri
- Fuchsia fufuraceae
- Fuchsia gehringeri
- Fuchsia glaberrima
- Fuchsia hartwegii
- Fuchsia hirtella
- Fuchsia hypoleuca
Fuchsia hypoleuca is a species of plant in the Onagraceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador.-Source:* León-Yánez, S. & Pitman, N. 2004. . Downloaded on 21 August 2007....
- Fuchsia jahnii
- Fuchsia Lehmanii
- Fuchsia leptopoda
- Fuchsia llewelynii
- Fuchsia loxensis
Fuchsia loxensis is a species of plant in the Onagraceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador.-References:* León-Yánez, S. & Pitman, N. 2004. . Downloaded on 21 August 2007....
- Fuchsia macrophylla
- Fuchsia macrostigma
- Fuchsia magdalenae
- Fuchsia matthewsii
- Fuchsia munzii
- Fuchsia osgoodii
- Fuchsia ovalis
- Fuchsia pallescens
- Fuchsia petiolaris
- Fuchsia pilosa
- Fuchsia pltypteala
- Fuchsia polyantha
- Fuchsia pringsheimii
- Fuchsia putamayensis
- Fuchsia rivularis
- Fuchsia sanctae-rosae
- Fuchsia scabriscaula
- Fuchsia sessilifolia
- Fuchsia simplisicaulis
- Fuchsia smithii
- Fuchsia splendens
- Fuchsia storkii
- Fuchsia sylvatica
Fuchsia sylvatica is a species of plant in the Onagraceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador.-References:* León-Yánez, S. & Pitman, N. 2004. . Downloaded on 21 August 2007....
- Fuchsia tincta
- Fuchsia townsendii
- Fuchsia triphylla
Despite the popularity of the species Fuchsia Triphylla, not much has been documented about this plant in particular. The Fuchsia Triphylla is one of over one-hundred and ten species that comprise the Fuchsia genus. Due to its attractiveness and its extensive blooming period which spans from early...
- Fuchsia venusta
- Fuchsia verrucosa
- Fuchsia woytkowskii
Section 2a: Ellobium
This section contains three species.
- Fuchsia decidua
- Fuchsia fulgens
- Fuchsia splendens
Section 3: Kierschlegeria
This section possesses a single species. This species has pedicels which are in the axils and are pendulous. The leaves are sparse and the sepals are reflexed and slightly shorter than the tube.
Section 4: Skinnera
The main characteristics of this section include a floral tube that is swollen above the ovary (future fruit). The sepals curve back on themselves and the petals are small or near absent. Skinnera are primarily from
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
, with one species (
F. cyrtandroides) from
TahitiTahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. The island had a population of 178,133 inhabitants according to the August 2007 census. This makes it the most populous island of French Polynesia,...
.
- Fuchsia colensoi
- Fuchsia cyrtandroides
- Fuchsia excorticata
Fuchsia excorticata, the New Zealand Fuchsia also known as Kotukutuku, is a New Zealand native tree belonging to the family Onagraceae. It is found commonly throughout New Zealand and as far south as the Auckland Islands. It grows from sea level up to about 1,000 m, particularly alongside creeks...
- Fuchsia perscandens
- Fuchsia procumbens
Section 5: Hemsleyella
The species in this section are characterised by a nectary that is fused with the base of the flower tube with petals that are partly or completely lacking.
- Fuchsia apetala
- Fuchsia cestroides
- Fuchsia chloroloba
- Fuchsia garleppiana
- Fuchsia huanucoensis
- Fuchsia inflata
- Fuchsia insignis
- Fuchsia juntasensis
- Fuchsia membranaceae
- Fuchsia mezae
- Fuchsia nana
- Fuchsia pilaloensis
Fuchsia pilaloensis is a species of plant in the Onagraceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador.-Source:* León-Yánez, S. & Pitman, N. 2004. . Downloaded on 21 August 2007....
- Fuchsia salicifolia
- Fuchsia tilletiana
- Fuchsia tunariensis
Section 6: Schufia
Plants in this section have flowers that are erect on the plant in a corymb like
panicleA panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches ....
.
- Fuchsia arborescens
- Fuchsia paniculata
Section 7: Encliandra
Flowers on species in this section have flat petals, short stamens and are reflexed into the tube. Fruits contain few seeds.
- Fuchsia bacillaris
- Fuchsia colimae
- Fuchsia cyclindracea
- Fuchsia encliandra
- Fuchsia hemsleyana
- Fuchsia mexiae
- Fuchsia michoacanensis
- Fuchsia microphylla
- Fuchsia mimmiflora
- Fuchsia minutiflora
- Fuchsia pringlei
- Fuchsia skutchiana
- Fuchsia striolata
- Fuchsia tacanensis
- Fuchsia tetradactyla
- Fuchsia thymifolia
Cultivation
Fuchsias are popular garden shrubs, and once planted can live for years with a minimal amount of care. The British Fuchsia Society maintain 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.
Fuchsias from sections Quelusia (
F. magellanica and variants,
F. regia, etc), encliandra (some encliandra hybrids flower continuously), Skinnera (
F. excorticata,
F. perscandens) and Procumbentes (
F. procumbens is suitable as a groundcover) are proven to be hardy in widespread areas of Britain and Ireland. Some temperate species will survive outdoors in the temperate areas, though may not always flower in the average British summer.
Due to a very temperate climate fuchsias grow abundantly in the West Cork region of Ireland and are associated with the area to such an extent that a local branding initiative uses the fuchsia flower as their logo.
Pests and diseases
Fuchsias are eaten by the
caterpillarCaterpillars are the larval form of a member of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly phytophagous in food habit, with some species being entomophagous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered pests in agriculture...
s of some
LepidopteraLepidoptera is an order of insects that includes moths and butterflies. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
, such as the Elephant Hawk-moth.
Pronunciation
While the original pronunciation from the word's German origin is
"fook-sya" , most English speakers tend to say
"fuh'schka" . As a result, the word is often subjected to misspellings such as "fushcia" or "fuschia". In English, the other accepted pronunciation is
"fyewk'see-ah" [fail, this is untrue and is only used by one person, Zachary], which is somewhat truer to the word's origin.
Among horticultural writers the fuchsia is jocularly referred to as "the world's most carefully spelled flower," a label which was apparently first given to it by
Jimmy BarnesJimmy Barnes is a popular Australian rock singer, with a unique vocal style. He was born James Dixon Swan on 28 April 1956 in Glasgow, Scotland. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer...
.
History
Leonhart FuchsLeonhart Fuchs , sometimes spelled Leonhard Fuchs, was a German physician and one of the three founding fathers of botany, along with Otto Brunfels and Hieronymus Bock .-Biography:...
was born in 1501. He occupied the chair of Medicine at the Tübingen University from the age of 34 until his death, on the 10th 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
herbalA[n] herbal is a book, often illustrated, that describes the appearance, medicinal properties, and other characteristics of plants used in herbal medicine...
and the two subjects were often inseparable.
In the course of his career Fuchs wrote
De Historia Stirpium, which was published in
1542. In honour of Fuchs' work the fuchsia received its name shortly before 1703 by
Charles PlumierCharles Plumier was a French botanist, after whom the genus Plumeria, or Frangipani is named.-Biography:Born in Marseille, at the age of sixteen he entered the religious order of the Minims...
. It was Plumier who compiled his
Nova Plantarum Americanum, which was published in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1703, based on the results of his plant-finding trip to
AmericaThe Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere or New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America...
in search of new
generaIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
.
The fuchsia was in England in the 18th century when Plumier took some
seedsSEEDS is a voluntary organisation registered under the Societies Act of India....
there after his expedition. The
species he took was
Fuchsia triphylla flore coccinea where specimens appeared in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. This may account for its reference under the name of "Thiles" in the
Journal des Observations Botaniquesin 1725. Thiles was the name by which the plant was known in southern
ChileChile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
where Plumier discovered it.
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
HammersmithHammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London approximately 5 miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, 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 LeeJames Matthew Lee, PC is a former Prince Edward Island premier . He was the leader of the PEI Progressive Conservative Party from 1981 to 1987....
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
KewKew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London.Kew is best known for being the home of the Royal Botanic Gardens...
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 ExeterThe Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into two separate businesses - based at Chelsea and...
.
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 LyeJames Lye is a Singaporean actor. He has acted in dramas such as Triple 9, Price Of Peace, VR Man, Season Of Love. He is married to ChannelNewsAsia Host Diana Ser....
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 GardenCovent Garden is a district in London, England, located in the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwestern corner of the London Borough of Camden...
market by many growers just outside
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. During the period between the world wars, fuchsia-growing slowed down as efforts were made toward crop production until after 1949, where plant and hybrid production resumed on a large scale.
External links
- Some fuchsia societies
- Other selected fuchsia sites