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Fuchsia (Named after Leonard Fuchs)

(named after Leonard Fuchs, 1501-1566, a German botanist). ORD. Onagraceae. A genus comprising about fifty species of small shrubs or trees, natives, with comparatively few exceptions, of Central and southern America, most of them having been introduced from Chili, Mexico, and Peru. Flowers usually drooping, on axillary one-flowered pedicels, which are sometimes disposed in racemes or panicles at the tops of the branches. Leaves generally opposite. The fuchsia ranks as one of the most ornamental and popular of garden plants. The first plant is stated to have been brought to this country by a sailor, about the end of the last century. It was observed growing in his window by Mr. Names Lee, a nurseryman, of the firm still existing under the name of Lee and son, at Hammersmith, and, appearing to be a promising plant of an unknown kind, he succeeded, after some little trouble, in purchasing it. a stock was soon obtained, and the next year a large number of plants were distributed. The first representative of the genus had been discovered something like a century previous to this, but none had been introduced to this country. A few species arrived in succession up to about 1840, when the raising of varieties by seed seems to have commenced with that collected from species with long flowers, then recently received. From selection and careful fertilisation of the different flowers afterwards obtained, the numerous varieties now grown have descended. Until about thirty years ago, these only included flowers with a red tube and sepals, and a blue or purple corolla, or those with creamy-white sepals and rose or pink corollas. Then a variety was raised having a white corolla, and subsequently double flowers, in various colours, appeared. These all combined have produced the numerous varied selections of the present day. Several of the old species are still largely grown, the profusion in which the flowers are produced fully compensating for their small size individually. Many are amongst the most beautiful of hardy or half-hardy plants for outside borders, while others of a more tender constitution are distinct and interesting subjects for culture inside. F. macrostema globosa, F. m. gracilis, and f. m. riccartoni are representatives of the former class; and F. boliviana, f. corymbiflora, F. fulgens, F. microphylla, F. procumbens, and F. splendens, of the latter description. the use of the floriferous varieties for decorative purposes is well known, their graceful and usually compact habit rendering them general favourites. Whether plants be required of a large size for exhibition, or others of smaller proportions for greenhouse or window decoration, centres of vases, and outside flower borders in summer, the fuchsia is equally well adapted for one and all. Nothing is more attractive than these, in summer and autumn, in a greenhouse, if trained to the rafters or pillars, and their branches allowed to grow and droop naturally with the weight of the flowers.

Propagation is effected by seeds for the raising of new varieties, and by cuttings for the perpetuation of those already obtained, or for any of the species. Seeds ripen freely in summer on the majority of plants, if they are required. When ripe, they should be washed from the pulp surrounding them, and afterwards dried, being then either sown at once or kept until early the following spring.

Cultivation. Cuttings of fuchsias, obtained from the points of young growing shoots that are free from flowers, root readily at any season. The best are those produced by old plants when started in early spring, and these may be grown very rapidly the following summer. If extra-sized specimens are desired, some cutting should be inserted in autumn, and the young plants kept growing all the winter. These will then be established in pots by the time the others are put in, and will, consequently, be considerably advanced. It is not impossible, under favourable conditions and proper treatment, to insert Fuchsia cuttings in October, and grow pyramidal plants some 6ft. high to flower the following July. This is not the plan usually adopted, old-established plants, under good cultivation, being available for use several years in succession, and are, as a rule, easier to manage and more certain to succeed. The general treatment in the early stages is similar at any season. The cuttings should be placed in light soil, about six in a 3in. pot, and plunged in a warm propagating frame. When rooted, they should be potted singly and kept in a light position, to induce a short-jointed sturdy growth. a temperature of about 60deg., with a rise by sun heat, is one most suitable for the young plants in spring, and plenty of water should be applied, with a syringing in the morning and afternoon. Apart from inducing growth, this tends, greatly to keep down insects. Many of the best-habited varieties will require but little stopping or training beyond placing a stick to the leading growth, and looping the others to it. Before the roots become much restricted for room, they should be placed in 5in. or 6in. pots, in which any of the plants will flower if so desired, or they may then be transferred to pots of almost any ordinary size. Fuchsias will succeed if proper attention be bestowed, in almost any soil; but where there is a choice, two parts loam to one of dried cow-dung, or any other good manure, should be selected, well mixed, and used in a lumpy state. Plenty of air and a slight shade are necessary for those grown under glass in summer, particularly when flowering. Liquid manure may be used with advantage so soon as the pots are filled with roots. Stock plants, or any required for growing another year, may be ripened outside, and stored at the approach of frost in any cool dry place. These should not be repotted until new growth has commenced. tender varieties grown in the open air should be at least one year old when planted, and they may be lifted and treated in a similar way. The hardy ones are more safe if covered with a mound of ashes after being cut down for the winter. Those cultivated on rafters or pillars in a green house should be planted out and allowed to grow at will, except a little thinning of the growths occasionally; they may be kept dry at the root in winter and pruned back to a couple of eyes at the base of each shoot.

F. alpestris (mountain). fl. pale crimson; petals broadly cuneate, obtuse, deep purple. August. l. opposite, never ternate, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, their margins slightly revolute and distantly sub-dentate, pubescent above and below. Branches round, densely pubescent. h. 20ft. organ Mountains, 1842. In its native habitat, this plant has a rambling, sub-scandent habit, the branches being from 12ft. to 18ft. or 20ft. high. (B. M. 3999.) F. apetala (apetalous).* fl. drooping, 1 1/2in. long; calyx red; lobes pale yellow; pedicels sub-corymbose, shorter than the flowers. l. alternate, petiolate, ovate, acuminated, quite entire. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Peru. F. arborescens (tree-like). fl. rose-coloured, as are also the rachides and pedicels, numerous, in copiously branched terminal panicles. October to February. l. eliptic, attenuated at both ends. Mexico, &c. Small tree or tall shrub. (B. M. 2620.) SYNS. f. paniculate and F. syringaeflora (R. H. 1873, 311). f. bacillaris (rod-branched). fl. on slender drooping pedicels, springing from the copious upper and younger branchlets, and thus forming a rather large leafy thyrse, or compact panicle; petals deep rose, sub-obcordate, spreading, nerved, bearing a blunt mucro at the retuse apex. Summer. l. opposite or ternate, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, entire or denticulo-serrate, small, nearly sessile, penninerved. Branches with reddish bark. Mexico A low-growing shrub. (B. M. 4506.) F. boliviana (Bolibvian).* fl. rich crimson, 2in. to 3in. long, tube trumpet-shaped. h. 2ft. to 4ft. Bolivia, 1876. Of a compact branching habit, and free growth. (R. H. 1876, 150.) F. coccinea (scarlet). fl., petals violet, obovate and convolute; sepals scarlet, purple at the base, oblong, acute. Summer. l. small, ovate, obtuse, denticulated, on short hairy petioles, downy white underneath, nearly glabrous above. h. 3ft. Brazil (?). A very pretty bushy plant, with slender downy branches. (B. M. 5740.) F. corallina (coral-red).* fl. pendulous; corolla dark plumcolour; spals crimson. l. of greenish-crimson tint, the under side being of a dark crimson, opposite, in whorls of four or five. Young stems dark red; old ones attaining a considerable height (20ft. in favourable spots in West of England) and thickness. (g. C. n. s., xx. 565, under name of f. exoniensis.) F. cordifolia (heart-leaved). fl. scarlet, green; pedicels axillary, solitary, one-flowered; calyx downy; tube longer than ovate petals. August and September. l. opposite or ternate, cordate, acuminate, denticulate, nearly glabrouw. h. 5ft. mexico, 1840. (B. R. 1841, 70.) F. corymbiflora (cluster-flowered).* fl. scarlet, nearly 2in. long, in long terminal clusters; petals oblong-lanceolate, bifid; sepals lanceolate, acute. Summer. l. large, opposite, oblong-lanceolate, almost entire, with a rosy midrib. branches somewhat tetra-gonal reddish and downy when young. h. 4ft. to 6ft. Peru, 1840 (B. M. 4000.) F. cylindracea (cylindrical-flowered). fl. scarlet. august h. 2ft. Demerara, 1837. (B. R. 66.) F. decussata (decussate). A synonym of F. macrostema gracilis. F. dependens (drooping).* fl., tube soft scarlet; corolla deeper in colour, in terminal leafy pendulous racemes. Summer. l. whorled, ovate-acute, toothed, slightly pubescent above, paler and more decidedly hairy beneath. Chili. h. 2ft. to 4ft.

F. Dominiana (dominy's). a garden hybrid, raised by Messrs. Veitch in 1852, between F. serratifolia and F. spectabilis. (F. d. S. 1004.) F. flugens (glowing).* fl. scarlet, 2in. long; petals acutish, shorter than the ovate-lanceolate acute sepals; racemes drooping at the apex. Summer. l. opposite, large, ovate-cordate, acute, denticulated, glabrous. h. 4ft. to 6ft. Mexico, 1830 (B. M. 3801.) F. macrantha (long-flowered). fl. rosy, green, apetalous; pedicels axillary, solitary; tube of calyx long. april to June. l. ovate-acute, entire. h. 3ft. Columbia, 1844. Plant downy. (B. M. 4233.

F. macrostema (large-stamened).* fl., calyx scarlet; lobes of calyx oblong, acute, exceeding the obovate spreading petals; pedicels axillary, nodding, longer than the flowers. July to October. l. three in a whorl, ovate, acute, denticulated, on short petioles. Branches glabrous. h. 6ft. to 12ft. Chili, 1823. SYN. f. magellanica.

F. m. conica (conical). fl. pendulous, solitary; petals purple, about equal in length to the scarlet sepals; tube of corolla conical. June to October. l. three or four in a whorl, ovate, flat, denticulated, glabrous; petioles pubescent. h. 3ft. to 6ft. Chili 1824. (B. R. 1062.) F. m. globosa (globose).* fl. globular; petals purplish-violet; sepals purplish-red. summer. l. ovate, acute, small denticulated. h. 6ft. Chili. A seedling from this (F. riccartoni), one of the most handsome and the hardiest of all the outdoor Fuchsias, was raised at Ricarton, near Edinburgh, about 1830; it stands the winters, in many parts of Scotland, uninjured. F. m. gracilis (slender).* fl., petals purple, convolute and retuse; sepals scarlet, oblong, acute, exceeding the petals; pedicels axillary, nodding, puberulous. Summer, autumn. l. opposite, glabrous, on long petioles, remotely denticulated. branches finely pubescent. h. 6ft. to 10ft. Mexico, 1823. (B. R. 847; B. M. 2507, under name of F. decussata.) There is a beautiful variegated form of this species.

F. m. pumila (dwarf). a variety with flowers much like gracilis, but of dwarfer habit.

F. magellanica (Magellan). A synonym of F. macrostema. F. microphylla (small-leaved0.* fl., petals deep red, retuse, toothed; calyx scarlet, funnel-shaped, with ovate-acuminate lobes; pedicels axillary. autumn. l. opposite, small ellipticoblong; acutish, toothed, glabrous. Branches pubescent. h. 2ft. Mexico, &c., 1828, F. paniculata (panicled). A synonym of F. arborescens. F. penduliflora (pendent-flowered).* fl. in axillary and terminal clusters; tube rich crimson, shaded with maroon, 3in. to 4in. long, trumpet-shaped. March. l. 3in. to 4in. long, ovate, acuminate, glabrous. Tropical America, 1879. (F. M. n. s. 412.) F. procumbens (procumbent).* fl. small, erect; tube yellowish, upper portion reflexed, blue. l. small, round. New Zealand, 1874. This exceedingly pretty little hardy creeper is principally grown on account of its large, oval, magenta-crimson berries, which remain on for months, and are very attractive during the winter. It is an admirable plant for a suspending basket. (B. M. 6139.) F. serratifolia (saw-edge-leaved). fl., petals scarlet, ovate-oblong; sepals red, rather villous, 1 1/2in. long, exceeding the petals, somewhat tumid at the base; pedicels axillary, drooping. Summer. l. in whorls of three or four, narrow, oblong, acute, glandularly toothed. Branches furrowed, reddish. h. 6ft. to 8ft. Peru, 1844.

F. sessilifolia (sessile-leaved). fl. panicled; petals red; sepals pink and green. June. l. oblong-lanceolate, opposite or whorled, with terminal, pendulous, leafy racemes. coloumbia, 1865. a pretty shrub. (B. M. 5907.) F. simplicicaulis (slightly-branched).* fl. rose-scarlet, one in the axil of each bract, pendent, numerous, handsome; petals ovate, acute, shorter than the sepals. October. l. ternate on the main stem and branches, 4in. to 5in. long, much smaller upon the pendulous, elongated, flowering branches; ovate, approaching to lanceolate, a little polished above, entire, on very short petioles; those of the bracts sessile. Peru, 1858. A very beautiful plant. (B. M. 5096.) F. spectabilis (showy0. fl., peduncles red, axillary, solitary, single-flowered, shorter than the leaves; calyx bright red, tube swollen at the base; petals deep red, large, nearly orbicular, waved very patent, and pressed, as it were, upon the segments of the calyx. September. l. mostly ternate, 6in. to 8in. long, between ovate and elliptical, petiolate, not tapering at the base, acute or slightly acuminate at the points, obscurely ciliated, entire at the margin, or only having minute tooth-like processes, occcasioned by the presence of small oblong glands; petiole erect or spreading; stipules triangular between the petioles. h. 2ft. to 4ft. Andes of Cuenca. a moderate-sized handsome shrub. (B. M. 4375.) F. splendens (splendid).* fl. scarlet and green, very showy. Early summer. l. ovate-cordate, pale green. h. 6ft. Mexico, 1841. This is one of the best and most distinct of the green-house species. (B. M. 4082.) F. syringaeflora (Syringa-flowered). A synonym of F. arborescens. F. thymifolia (Thyme-leaved).* fl. red; petals obovate-oblong, undulated; calyx funnel-shaped, with oblong-acute lobes; pedicels axillary. Summer. l. about opposite, small, ovate or roundish-ovate, obtuse, nearly entire, downy above, nearly smooth beneath. h. 4ft. to 6ft. Mexico, 1827. (B. R. 1284.) F. triphylla (three-leaved).* fl. glowing cinnabar-red, about 1 1/2in. long, in terminal, nodding racemes; petals shorter than the sepals. l. small, 1 1/2in. to 3in. long, purplish beneath, and traversed by numerous lateral veins that curve round and run into each other near the margin. h. 1ft. to 2ft. west Indies. A hand-some ornamental plant. (B. M. 6795.) F. venusta (charming). fl., petals scarlet, oblong-lanceolate, acute, with undulated margins; sepals purple, about the same shape and length as petals; pedicels axillary; upper ones racemose. August. l. opposite, and three in a whorl, elliptic, acute, entire, glabrous. Branches downy. h. 4ft. Central America. 1825. (F. D. s. 538.) VARIETIES. These are very numerous, and are annually increased by others, representing a difference either in form, size, or colour. Many of the old varieties can scarcely be excelled in their general floriferous habit; but those more recently raised have a remarkable variation in shape and length of flowers. The subjoined list includes a selection of the best for general cultivation.

Varieties with Single Flowers. ALBA COCCINEA, tube cherry-coloured, sepals white, corolla rose, very distinct; AURORA SUPERBA rich salmon, corolla scarlet; BEAUTY OR CLYFFE HALI, tube and sepals blush-white, corolla rich carmine-pink, large and free; BEAUTY OF SWANLEY, tube and sepals white, corolla pink; BEAUTY OF TROWBRIDGE, tube and sepals white, corolla light, good; BLAND'S NEW STRIPED, tube and sepals scarlet, corolla plum-colour, striped rose; CANNELLS'GEM, tube and sepals glowing red, corolla pure white, cupped, good; CHARMING, tube and sepals red, corolla dark, showy and effective; DELIGHT, Tube and sepals crimson, corolla bell-shaped pure white, free and good; EARL OF BEACONSFIELD, rosy-carmine, corolla deep carmine, one of the best (this is a very remarkable hybrid--the seed-bearing parent being F. fulgens--raised, several years ago, by Mr. Laing; hitherto it has remained quite sterile) ERECTA SUPERBA, a curious strong-growing garden hybrid, with flowers nearly erect ETHEL, tube and sepals pure white, corolla violet; GAZELLE, dark red, a floriferous variety, of good habit; GENERAL GARFIELD, rich crimson, sepals broad, reflexed, corolla bluish; GENERAL GARFIELD, rich crimson, sepals broad, reflexed, corolla bluish; GRAND DUCHESS MARIE, tube white, corolla rose, free and good; INIMITABLE, sepals scarlet, broad, finely reflexed, corolla deep violet; JAMES LYE, tube and sepals red, corolla deep violet, goo dark variety; JEANNE D'ARC, tube and sepals bright red, corolla pure wihite, extra good; JULES FERRY, scarlet, corolla violet mottled white; LADY HEYTESBURY, white, corolla purple, free; LORD BYRON, bright crimson, corolla very dark, bell-shaped; LORD WOLESELEY, sepals broad, deep corolla rosy-crimson, margined purple, extra fine; LYE'S RIVAL, tube and sepals red, corolla violet-purple, very free; MARGINATA, white, corolla pink, margined with scarlet, of fine habit; MAGNONNE, tube and sepals bright red, corolla pure white, one of the best of its class; MR. J. HUNTLY, red, corolla plum-colour, showy dark variety; MRS. E. BENNETT, scarlet, corolla white, free; MRS. J.LYE, tube and sepals white, corolla pink habit branching; MRS. KING, white, corolla rich carmine, good; MRS. MEIN, tube and sepals crimson-scarlet, latter well refelexed, corolla white; PINK PERFECTION, creamy-white, corolla violet; ROSE OF CASTLE, sepals blush corolla, purpish, good old variety; SEDAN, dark self-coloured variety, distinct and good; STAR OF WILTS, cream, corolla violet, very fine; SUNRAY, scarlet, corolla light purple, leaves crimson, bronze and white, very ornamental; THOMAS KING, tube and sepals coral-red, corolla rich deep purple; WAVE OF LIFE, sespals scarlet, corolla violet, a good ole variety with yellow foliage. Varieties with Double Floweres. ALFRD DUMESNIL, sepals clear crimson, corolla pale violet,long; AVALANCHE, carmine, corolla dark purple,one of the best doubles;CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, coral-red, corolla dark-purple, produces,when fully developed, the largest flowers of any variety known' DE MONTALOVET, rosy-carmine, corolla violet, flaked, small full flower; GEM OF IPSWICH, tube and sepals coral-red, corolla puple, striped; GENERAL, sepals deep rose, much reflexed, corolla rich violet, striped; GIPSY QUEEN, sepals scarlet and much reflexed, corolla very full, violet; KING OF THE DOUBLES, scarlet, corolla purple, striped; KINGSBURYANA, scarlet, corolla pure white, and remarkable for its size and shape; LECYGNE, tube and sepals crimson, corolla white, dwarf; LITTLE ALICE, scarlet, corolla pure white, good; MARKSMAN, sepals carmine, corolla violet, habit good; MARVELLOUS, tube rose, corolla blue, full; MILNE EDWARDS, coral-red, corolla bluish-violet; MINSTREL, rosy-cromson, corolla ivory-white, striped, full; MISS LUCY FINNIS, tube and sepals coral-red, corolla pure white, large and very full; MISS L. VIDLER, sepals crimson, corolla violet good; MRS. H. CHANNELL, sepals bright crimosn, broad, corolla pure white, extra fine; NELLY MORTON, scarlet,, corolla white; PIERRE JOIGNEAUX, sepals light red, corolla deep carmine, peculiarlym formed.