The first recorded species fuchsia, Fuchsia triphylla, was discovered by Father P’ere Plumier, a Catholic priest from the Order of Mimims, whilst on a plant hunting expedition in what is now the Dominican Republic. He named his discovery after the German Doctor of Medicine, Leonard Fuchs (pronounced fooks). All our modern day ‘cultivars’ owe their existence to the species fuchsia’s that were discovered, crossed by the early nurserymen, and later by more recent hybridizers resulting in the large diversity of colour, shape and form that is available today. More recently crosses using species from New Zealand have resulted in an entirely new colour - the ‘Aubergine’. Other species are being crossed to try and produce disease and pest resistant plants. Species are classified under the genus Fuchsia and are part of the order Onagracea (the native wild flower Rose Bay Willow Herb also comes under this order and should not be allowed to reproduce in your gardens as it is very prone to rust, which in turn will pass to your fuchsias). Below the species are described briefly and placed in the botanical section to which they belong. Cloud forests, one of the most endangered environments, are the most common habitat of the species fuchsia. Most are to be found in Central and South America, but a few species are native to New Zealand and Tahiti. The following descriptions are published courtesy of Edwin J Goulding.
SECTION 1 - QUELUSIA (Argentina, Brazil and Chile)
F. bracelinea, F. campos-portoi, F. magellanica var macrostema, F. magellanica alba, F. coccinea, F. magellanica, F. regia var regia, F. regia, F. regia var alpestris.
SECTION 2 - FUCHSIA (Andes and Central America)
F. abrupta, F. andrei, F. ayavacensis, F. canescens, F. ceracea, F. concertifolia, F. collata, F. crassistipula, F. decussata, F. dependens, F. fontinalis, F. gebrigeri, F. harlingii, F. hirtella, F. llewelynii, F. macropetala, F. macrostigma, F. mathewsii, F. orientalis, F. pallescens, F. pilosa, F. pringsheimii, F. rivularis, F. sammartina, F. scherffiana, F. simplicaulis, F. sylvatica, F. triphylla, F. venusta, F. vulcanica, F. ampliata, F. austromontana, F. boliviana, F. caucana, F. cohabambana, F. coriacifolia, F. corymbifolia, F. cautrecasii, F. denticulata, F. ferreyra, F. furfuracea, F. glaberrima, F. hartwegii, F. lechmanii, F. loxensis, F. macrophylla, F. magdalenae, F. nigricans, F. ovalis, F. petiolaris, F. polyantha, F. putamayensis, F. sanctae-rosae, F. scabriuscula, F. sessilifolia, F. steyermarkii, F. tincta, F. vargasiana, F. verrucosa, F. wurdackii.
SECTION 3 - KIERSCHLEGERIA (Chile)
F. Lycioides
SECTION 4 - SKINNERA (New Zealand and Tahiti)
F. colensoi, F. excorticata, F. procumbens, F. cyrtandroides, F. Perscandens.
SECTION 5 - HEMSLEYELLA (Bolivia and Venezuela)
F. apetela, F. chloroloba, F. huanucoensis, F. insignis, F. membranacea, F. pitaloensis, F. tilletiana, F. cestroides, F. garleppiana, F. inflata, F. juntasensis, F. nana.
F. salcifolia, F. tunariensis.
SECTION 6 - SCHUFFIA (Central America and Mexico)
F. arborescens, F. paniculata.
SECTION 7 - ENCLIANDRA(Central America and Mexico)
F. x bacillaris, F. encliandra ssp encliandra, F. encliandra ssp tetradactyla, F. microphylla ssp hemsleyana, F. microphylla ssp microphylla, F. microphylla ssp mintiflora, F. parviflora, F. thymifolia ssp minimiflora, F. thymifolia ssp thymifolia.
SECTION 8 - JIMENEZIA (Costa Rica and Panama)
F. jimenezia.
SECTION 9 - ELLOBIUM (Central America and Mexico)
F. decidua, F. fulgens, F. splendens.
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