614 



FUCHSIA 



FUCHSIA 



FtTCHSIA (Leonard Fuchs, 1501-1565, German pro- 

 fessor of medicine, and a botanical author). Onagracece. 

 Sixty or 70 species, the greater part in tropical America, 

 but three or four in 'New Zealand. They are very va- 

 riable in character. The common Fuchsias are known 

 to us as small herbs, but some of them are shrubs in 

 their native countries. F. excorticata, of New Zealand, 

 is a tree 30-40 ft. high, whereas F. vrocumbens, of the 



875. Fuchsia speciosa. 

 The common garden Fuchsia (X 



same country, is a weak, trailing herb. The fls. are 

 showy ; calyx-tube prolonged beyond the ovary and 

 bell-shaped to tubular, with 4 spreading lobes ; petals 

 4, sometimes 5, or in some species wanting ; stamens 

 usually 8, often exserted ; style long-exserted, the 

 stigma prominent: fr. (seldom seen under glass) a 

 4-locul?d soft berry. Of the many species, less than 

 half a dozen have entered largely into garden forms. 

 The common garden kinds have come mostly from F. 

 Magellanica. This species was introduced into Great 

 Britain from Chile in 1788, or about that time. It is va- 

 riable in a wild state as well as in cultivation, and plants 

 subsequently introduced from South America were so 

 distinct as to be regarded for a time as distinct spe- 

 cies. Even at the present day some of the forms of F. 

 Magellanica are commonly spoken of as species, so 

 much do they differ from the type. As early as 1848, 

 541 species and varieties mostly mere garden forms- 

 were known and named (Porcher, "La Fuchsia, son His- 

 toire et sa Culture"). The Fuchsia reached the height 

 of its popularity about the middle of this century. At 

 the present time it is prized mostly for window garden- 

 ing and conservatory decoration. The garden forms of 

 the present day are with difficulty referred to specific 

 types. The long-tubed or so-called speciosa forms are 

 probably hybrids of F. MagelJanica and F. fulgens 

 (Figs. 875,876). Others are evidently direct varieties 

 from the stem types. There are many full double forms. 

 For the history and the garden botany of the Fuchsia, 

 see Hemsley in the Garden 9:284 and 11:70; also 

 Watson, the Garden 55:74. 



Fuchsias are amongst the easiest of house plants to 

 grow. The essential points are to have vigorous young 

 plants and not to overpot ; the plants bloom better if 

 the roots are somewhat confined from the time that the 

 plant reaches the required size. Any garden soil is 

 suitable. Give the temperature of an ordinary living 

 room, or that required for geraniums. Fuchsias grow 

 readily from seeds, when these are obtainable, and 

 blooming plants should be secured in less than a year. 

 They are commonly grown from slips, or cuttings, of 

 the nearly matured growing wood. Make the cuttings 

 of one or two joints preferably two, allow two leaves 

 to remain, but snip them in two to check loss from 

 evaporation, and insert half their length in sand or 

 washed gravel. In four or five months blooming plants 

 should be obtained. For fall bloom, make cuttings in 

 spring. For spring bloom, take cuttings in early fall or 



late summer. After flowering, the plants may be kept 

 cool and comparatively dry if they are to be bloomed 

 again ; but it is usually more satisfactory to start a 

 new lot each year from cuttings. However, one or two 

 old and large specimen plants, in tubs or large pots, 

 may be a desirable addition to the conservatory. Old 

 plants may be cut back severely, and the young growth 

 which is thrown out will give profuse bloom. Screen 

 from full sunlight, keep the atmosphere moist, syringe 

 if insects become troublesome, and give a rich soil. 

 Most of the Magellanica types maybe left in the open in 

 the South if protected with mulch. There are Fuchsia 

 hedges in S. Ireland and parts of England belonging to 

 this type. L H B 



One of the great merits of the Fuchsia is that all of 

 the strong and robust-growing types make excellent 

 outdoor decorative plants in summer, and are especially 

 adapted for shady and half shady places where few 

 other plants will answer. This is particularly true of 

 plants which have been kept over winter and have been 

 trained into large bush plants or standards. After the 

 first year, they make fine specimens, and they can be 

 kept and used in this manner and for these purposes 

 for many years. They can be stored in a cool green- 

 house, light cellar or any other cool, out-of-the-way 

 place, where hydrangeas, oleanders and such stock 

 is wintered, leaving them in their pot-bound, semi- 

 dormant state all winter, giving just enough moisture 

 to keep them alive. The latter part of March or the be- 

 ginning of April in the North, the plants can be started 

 into growth, and as soon as root action begins they can 

 be repotted or retubbed, using rich, open loam, with 

 plenty of good drainage, and can remain in those pots 

 or tubs for another year. When in bud or bloom, fre- 

 quent application of liquid manure is very beneficial. 

 Fuchsias are great feeders. They flower best when 

 plunged with their pots or tubs in the ground outdoors, 

 and can be left out until very late in the season, as they 

 are nearly semi-hardy, and stand a little frost without 

 serious injury. Cult . by H . A . SIEBRECHT. 



Various Latin names of horticultural forms occur in 

 the trade, but the following represent all the important 

 botanical types in cultivation in this country: 



A. Fls. drooping. 



B. Calyx-tube mostly shorter than the 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. macrostSmma, Ruiz & Pav. 

 F. coceinea, Curtis, not Aiton). Calyx tube little longer 

 than the ovary, oblong or short-cylindrical : petals nor- 

 mally blue, and shorter than the red and oblong-lanceo- 

 late calyx lobes ; stamens long-exserted : Ivs. opposite 

 or in 3's, lance-ovate, very short-petioled, dentate. Peru 

 and S. to Terre del Fuego. B.M.97. The leading types 

 are as follows: 



Var. globdsa (F. globosa, Lindl. ) . Fls. small and short, 

 the bud nearly globular and the tips of the sepals co- 

 hering even after the flower begins to burst; calyx tube 

 very short. A profuse bloomer, and a common type 

 amongst old-fashioned Fuchsias. Probably of garden 

 origin. B.R. 18:1556. Gn. 55, p. 75. 



Var. c6nica (F. c6nica, Lindl.). Small-fld., the bud 

 conical-oblong ; calyx tube nearly as long as the lobes;, 

 petals nearly equal to the calyx lobes. Raised from 

 seeds brought from Chile. B.R. 13:1062. 



Var. discolor (F. discolor, Lindl. F. Ldwei, Hort.). 

 Dwarf and hardy: fls. small, with slender, short tube 

 and wide-sprending, rather narrow calyx lobes, which are 

 somewhat longer than the'tube: branches deep purple: 

 Ivs. undulate-toothed. Falkland Isl. B.R. 21:1805. 



