456 



VUCIISTA MACRANTHA. 



cognizance of iheir rigid rules, but with 

 such a variety of original forms, it is no 

 wonder llial they have been less successful 

 in moulding this flower to a " standard," 

 than most others to which their attention 

 has been directed. 



Fuchsia macrantha, of which a repre- 

 sentation accompanies this notice, is the 

 most recent iniroduction, having been re- 

 ceived from South America, by Messrs. 

 Veitch and Son, of Exeter, from their col- 

 lector, Mr. W. Lobb, and bloomed for the 

 first time in this country during the spring 

 of the present year, (1846.) We had an 

 opportunity of witnessing blooming plants 

 sent in April to tke meeting of the Horti- 

 cultural Society of London, and are there- 

 fore in a position to state, from personal in- 

 spection, that it is perfectly distinct from 

 any of the kinds already in cultivation ; we 

 cannot indeed consider it to be the most 

 beautiful of the kinds we are acquainted 

 with, but being a handsome plant, it will 

 no doubt, on account of its distinctness, 

 meet with a considerable share of public 

 favor. 



The greatest peculiarity for which this 

 plant is remarkable, is the absence of 

 petals in the flowers, so that, in fact, 

 the flowers consist simply of long tubes, 

 divided at the lower extremity into four ob- 

 tusely angular segments, beyond which the 

 style, but not the stamens are protruded. 

 At present, in a cultivated state, it assumes 

 the form of a low, somewhat straggling 

 shrub, with spreading branches ; but Sir 

 W. Hooker states, that in Peru, where it 

 was originally observed in lofty mountains 

 at Andimarca, it was found climbing on the 

 trees, so that we may expect the straggling 

 habit which has been manifested to become 

 more fully confirmed and developed, as our 

 acquaintance with it increases. It has how- 

 ever not yet been seen to exceed about two 

 feet in height, and in this state the flowers 

 quite conceal the stems, from the number 

 in which they are produced ; indeed, so 

 freely does it produce its flowers, that small 

 plants, scarcely more than six inches high, 

 are found to flower freely. 



The whole plant is more or less clothed 

 with coarse pubescence ; it has large leaves, 

 of an acutely ovate figure, and purplish be- 



neath, and pendulous apctalous (without pe- 

 tals) llowers, the calyx of which is very 

 long — often «ix inches — cylindrical, a little 

 widening upwards, and divided into four 

 ovate segments ; these flowers are each 

 produced on a separate stalk, sometimes 

 solitary, sometimes aggregated, also "among 

 the terminal leaves, which are often so 

 small as to give the appearance of terminal 

 corj-mbs ; at other times, the flowering 

 branches are crowned with a tuft of leaves." 

 The color of the flowers is a rosy red, paler 

 towards the base of the tube, and also on 

 the segments, which are slightly tipped 

 with green. If, observes Sir VV". Hooker, 

 this be not the most brilliantly colored of 

 Fuchsias, it certainly can boast the largest 

 flowers, and it bears them more copiously 

 than any other species. 



Mr. W. Lobb, the collector to Messrs. 

 Veitch, detected this plant growing in 

 woods near Chasula, in Columbia, at an el- 

 evation of 5,000 feet above the sea ; and it 

 is through this source that it has been in- 

 troduced to this country in a living state. 

 Dried specimens have been for some time 

 in Sir W. Hooker's herbarium. 



In regard to cultivation, it will, doubtless, 

 prove a hardy green-house species, the ele- 

 vation of its natural habitat (-5,000 feet) be- 

 mg sufficient to warrant this conclusion: 

 there is indeed every reason to believe that it 

 would succeed out of doors during the sum- 

 mer months. Like other species of similar 

 habit, the present seems to be most fitted for 

 a conservatory, where it might be either 

 planted out, in the border, or grown into a 

 large specimen in a pot. From the manner 

 in which the blossoms of the plant are pro- 

 duced, it will be obvious that it is well 

 adapted for growing into the form of a 

 standard, from which the long dependent 

 flowers would hang with good effect. 

 Whatever beauty there may be in plants of 

 small size, there can be no doubt that those 

 which are grown into larger bushes will 

 proportionately increase in beauty ; such is 

 the case with F. fulgens, and F. corymbi- 

 flora, the two kinds common in our gardens, 

 to which in general characters this bears 

 the greatest resemblance. It seems to 

 bloom early in the summer. 



It is hardly necessary to mention that a 



