Fuchsia
| Fuchsia | ||||||||||||
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| F. magellanica macrostema | ||||||||||||
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Fuchsia is a genus of flowering plants, mostly shrubs, which were identified by Charles Plumier in the late 17th century, and named after German botanist Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566). The great majority of the species are native to South America, but with a few occurring north through Central America to Mexico, and also several on New Zealand and Tahiti.
In South America, one species, Fuchsia magellanica, extends as far as the southern tip of the continent on Tierra del Fuego in the cool temperate zone, but the majority are tropical or subtropical.
Double fuchsia (twice as many petals)
Fuchsias are popular garden shrubs, though only the hardiest species like F. magellanica can be grown outdoors in countries like Britain, with many of the popular cultivars being greenhouse plants there. They have very decorative pendulous 'eardrop' flowers, borne in profusion. In wild species the flowers typically have bright red sepals and purple petals, but many different variants have been bred in cultivation, from white to dark red, purple-blue, and orange. A few have yellowish tones. The fruit is an small (10-15 mm) dark red edible berry.
The most common cultivars are hybrids, of which there are thousands, propagated by cuttings, since seeds will not breed true. Some species are found in gardens, however:
- Bolivian Fuchsia (F. boliviana)
- Hardy Fuchsia (F. magellanica)
- Shrubby Fuchsia (F. paniculata)
The color fuchsia derives from a common color of these flowers, and is synonymous with magenta. The Fuchsia begonia (Begonia foliosa), while unrelated to the fuchsia genus, is so named because its flowers resemble those of fuchsias.