FUCHSIA 



FUCHSIA 



1301 



A. Fls. drooping (Nos. 1-9). 



B. Tube of fl. mostly shorter than the calyx-lobes (or in 

 F. speciosa sometimes as long again); petals obo- 

 vate and retuse, convolute in the bud. LADIES' 

 EAR-DROPS. 



1. magellanica, Lam. (F. macrostema, Ruiz & Pav. 

 F. macrostemma, Auth. F. coccinea, Curtis, not Ait.). 

 Tube little longer than the ovary, oblong or short- 

 cylindrical; petals normally blue, and shorter than the 

 red and oblong-lanceolate calyx-lobes; stamens long- 

 exserted: Ivs. opposite or in 3's, lance-ovate, very short- 

 petioled, dentate. Peru and south to Terre del Fuego. 

 B.M. 97 (F. coccinea). The leading types are as 

 follows: 



Var. globosa, Bailey (F. globdsa, Lindl. F. macro- 

 stemma var. globosa, Nich.). Fig. 1599. Lvs. opposite, 

 short-petiolate, ovate, acute, lightly dentate, glabrous : 

 fls. red-purple, axillary on slender peduncles, small 

 and short, the bud nearly globular and the tips of the 

 sepals cohering even after the fl. begins to burst; 

 tube very short; petals erect, twice shorter than the 

 calyx-lobes. B.R. 1556. Gn. 55, p. 75. A profuse 

 bloomer, and a common type amongst old-fashioned 

 fuchsias. There is a form with variegated Ivs. 



Var. Riccartonii (F. Riccartonii, Hort.). Fig. 1600. 

 Very like var. globosa and reported to be a seedling of 

 it, is a very hardy and floriferous form, standing in 

 the open in Scotland, blooming particularly well in 

 autumn: 6-10 ft., making a trunk 3 in. diam., and 

 becoming wide-spreading: shoots slender: fls. red. J.H. 

 III. 58:329. A handsome and desirable fuchsia, said 

 to have been raised at Riccarton, near Edinburgh, 

 about 1830, but reported as originating in the Falk- 

 land Isls. Excellent in Calif. 



Var. discolor, Bailey (F. discolor, Lindl. F. Lbwei, 

 Hort.). Fig. 1601. Dwarf, compact and hardy: 

 branches deep purple: Ivs. rather small undulate- 

 toothed: peduncles axillary, slender, exceeding the lys.; 

 fls. red, small, with slender, short tube and wide- 

 spreading, rather narrow calyx-lobes, which are some- 

 what longer than the tube; petals obtuse, shorter than 

 the calyx-lobes. Falkland Isls. B.R. 1805. 



Var. cdnica, Bailey (F. conica, Lindl. F. macro- 

 stemma var. cdnica, Nich.). Shrubby, very leafy: lys. 

 3-4 together, toothed, ovate, the petiole one-third 

 length of blade, pubescent: fls. axillary, solitary, on 

 peduncles much longer than Ivs.; calyx scarlet, the 

 tube conical (or widest at base) and equaling the 

 lobes; petals dark purple, erect and emarginate; 

 small-fid. Raised from seeds brought from Chile. 

 B.R. 1062. Lindley says that it differs from F. 

 gracilis in having broader Ivs., being less floriferous, 

 and in the conical tube which widens above 

 the ovary and then narrows. 



1602. Fuchsia magellanica var. gracilis. 



1603. Fuchsia speciosa. The common 

 garden fuchsia. ( X H) 



Var. gracilis, Bailey (F. gracilis, Lindl. F. decus- 

 sdta, Grah., not Ruiz & Pav. F. macrostemma 

 var. gracilis, Nich.). Fig. 1602. Very slender and 

 graceful, twiggy and cross-branched: Ivs. lanceo- 

 late to ovate, toothed; petiole J^in. long: fls. droop- 

 ing on very long pedicels which are single or in 

 pairs; tube slender, nearly as long as the narrow 

 spreading lobes; calyx scarlet; petals purple, retuse, 

 shorter than the long acute calyx-lobes. Chile. B.R. 

 847; 1052 (var. muUiflora). B.M. 2507. Gn. 55, p. 74. 

 Mn. 2, p. 186. Perhaps a distinct species. A var. 

 variegata is advertised. F . Thdmpsonii, Hort., is said to 

 belong here. 



With the F. magellanica set may be classed F. 

 cordllina. Hort., F. elegans, Paxt., F. tenetta, Hort., 

 and others. There are apparently many hybrids. The 

 short-flowered fuchsias are less popular than formerly, 

 but many varieties are now in cult. 



2. specidsa, Hort. (F. hybrida, Hort.). Figs. 1603, 

 1604. The greater part of present-day garden fuchsias 

 are of the longer-tubed type shown in the illustrations. 

 These are probably hybrid derivatives of F. magellanica 

 forms and F . fulgens. Amongst the named sorts every 

 gradation will be found, from the short-tubed Storm 

 King to the Earl of Beaconsfield with fls. 3 in. long. 

 The old F. exoniensis, Paxt., B.M. 153, is figured as 

 a very showy plant, marked by very long-pointed 

 calyx-lobes and sharp-pointed buds, said to be a hybrid 

 of F. cordifolia (a Mexican species) and F. globosa. 

 The plant subsequently figured and cult, under that 

 name does not agree, having shorter fls. and much 

 less prominently pointed calyx-lobes. 



3. coccinea, Ait. Not known to be cult, 

 in Amer., and inserted here for the pur- 

 pose of clearing up the synonymy of F. 

 coccinea. This species appears to have 

 been intro. before F. magellanica, and it 

 was named F. coccinea by Aiton. F . magellanica, 

 however, "usurped its name and spread it to 

 every garden in the kingdom, whilst the true 

 plant lingered in botanic gardens, lastly surviv- 

 ing (greatly to the credit of the Baxters, father 

 and son) in that of Oxford alone." The species 

 was lost from its intro. in 1788 to its rediscovery 

 in an Oxford garden in 1867; meantime forms of 

 F. magellanica passed as F. coccinea. "F. coccinea is 

 much more graceful than any of the varieties of F. 

 magellanica, flowers even more freely, and is readily 

 distinguished by the almost sessile leaves with broad 

 bases, and the hairy twigs and petioles; further, its 

 foliage turns of a bright crimson when about to fall." 

 J. D. Hooker, B.M. 5740. Probably Brazilian. The 

 plant should be looked for in collections. 



