Fuchsia


Fuchsia is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees.
Almost 110 species of Fuchsia are recognized; the vast majority are native to South America, but a few occur 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.

Taxonomy

The first to be scientifically described, Fuchsia triphylla, was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola about 1696–1697 by the French Minim friar and botanist, Charles Plumier, during his third expedition to the Greater Antilles. He named the new genus after German botanist Leonhart Fuchs.
The fuchsias are most closely related to the northern hemisphere genus Circaea, the two lineages having diverged around 41 million years ago. The presence of Fuchsia in both the Neotropics and New Zealand/Tahiti likely owes to several dispersal events of Fuchsia across the Antarctic land bridge during the Late Eocene.

Description

Most fuchsias are shrubs from tall, but one New Zealand species, the kōtukutuku, is unusual in the genus in being a tree, growing up to tall. Fuchsia leaves are opposite or in whorls of three to five, 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. The ovary is inferior.
The fruit is a small dark reddish green, deep red, or deep purple berry, containing numerous very small seeds. The fruit of the berry of F. splendens is reportedly among the best-tasting. Its flavor is reminiscent of citrus and black pepper, and it can be made into jam. The fruits of some other fuchsias are flavorless or leave a bad aftertaste.
In most species, the flowers are bird-pollinated and the seeds dispersed also by birds.

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 12 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. 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 ''Ellobium''

Mexico and Costa Rica. This section contains three species.
  • Fuchsia decidua
  • Fuchsia fulgens
  • ''Fuchsia splendens''

    Section ''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.
  • Fuchsia encliandra
  • * Fuchsia encliandra subsp. encliandra
  • * Fuchsia encliandra subsp. microphyloides
  • * Fuchsia encliandra subsp. tetradactyla
  • Fuchsia microphylla
  • * Fuchsia microphylla subsp. aprica
  • * Fuchsia microphylla subsp. chiapensis
  • * Fuchsia microphylla subsp. hemsleyana
  • * Fuchsia microphylla subsp. hidalgensis
  • * Fuchsia microphylla subsp. microphylla
  • * Fuchsia microphylla subsp. quercertorum
  • Fuchsia obconica
  • Fuchsia parviflora
  • Fuchsia ravenii
  • Fuchsia thymifolia
  • * Fuchsia thymifolia subsp. minimiflora
  • * Fuchsia thymifolia subsp. thymiflora
  • Fuchsia × ''bacillaris''

    Section ''Fuchsia''

Northern Argentina to Colombia and Venezuela, and Hispaniola. With 64 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.
  • Fuchsia abrupta
  • Fuchsia ampliata
  • Fuchsia andrei
  • Fuchsia aquaviridis
  • Fuchsia austromontana
  • Fuchsia ayavacensis
  • Fuchsia boliviana
  • Fuchsia campii
  • Fuchsia canescens
  • Fuchsia caucana
  • Fuchsia ceracea
  • Fuchsia cinerea
  • Fuchsia cochabambana
  • Fuchsia confertifolia
  • Fuchsia coriacifolia
  • Fuchsia corollata
  • Fuchsia corymbiflora
  • Fuchsia crassistipula
  • Fuchsia cuatrecasaii
  • Fuchsia decussata
  • Fuchsia denticulata
  • Fuchsia dependens
  • Fuchsia ferreyrae
  • Fuchsia fontinalis
  • Fuchsia furfuracea
  • Fuchsia gehrigeri
  • Fuchsia glaberrima
  • Fuchsia harlingii
  • Fuchsia hartwegii
  • Fuchsia hirtella
  • Fuchsia hypoleuca
  • Fuchsia lehmannii
  • Fuchsia llewelynii
  • Fuchsia loxensis
  • Fuchsia macrophylla
  • Fuchsia macropetala
  • Fuchsia macrostigma
  • Fuchsia magdalenae
  • Fuchsia mathewsii
  • Fuchsia nigricans
  • Fuchsia orientalis
  • Fuchsia ovalis
  • Fuchsia pallescens
  • Fuchsia petiolaris
  • Fuchsia pilosa
  • Fuchsia polyantha
  • Fuchsia pringsheimii
  • Fuchsia putumayensis
  • Fuchsia rivularis
  • * Fuchsia rivularis subsp. pubescens
  • * Fuchsia rivularis subsp. rivularis
  • Fuchsia sanctae-rosae
  • Fuchsia sanmartina
  • Fuchsia scabriuscula
  • Fuchsia scherffiana
  • Fuchsia sessifolia
  • Fuchsia simplicicaulis
  • Fuchsia steyermarkii
  • Fuchsia summa
  • Fuchsia sylvatica
  • Fuchsia tincta
  • Fuchsia triphylla
  • Fuchsia vargasiana
  • Fuchsia venusta
  • Fuchsia vulcanica
  • ''Fuchsia wurdackii''

    Section ''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.
  • 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 salicifolia
  • Fuchsia tilletiana
  • ''Fuchsia tunariensis''

    Section ''Jimenezia''

Panama and Costa Rica.
  • ''Fuchsia jimenezii''

    Section ''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 ''Pachyrrhiza''

Peru.
  • ''Fuchsia pachyrrhiza''

    Section ''Procumbentes''

New Zealand.
  • ''Fuchsia procumbens''

    Section ''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.
  • Fuchsia alpestris
  • Fuchsia bracelinae
  • Fuchsia brevilobis
  • Fuchsia campos-portoi
  • Fuchsia coccinea
  • Fuchsia glazioviana
  • Fuchsia hatschbachii
  • Fuchsia magellanica
  • Fuchsia regia
  • * Fuchsia regia subsp. regia
  • * Fuchsia regia subsp. reitzii
  • * Fuchsia regia subsp. ''serrae''

    Section ''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
The name Schufia is a taxonomic anagram derived from Fuchsia.

Section ''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