Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Fuchsia
Fuchsia is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs. The genus is named after the renowned German botanist Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566).
There are currently almost 110 recognized species of Fuchsia. The vast majority are native to South America, but with a few occurring north through Central America to Mexico, and also several from New Zealand to Tahiti. The New Zealand species, the [[../table-1/tree-fuschia.html|kōtukutuku (F. excorticata)]], is unusual in the genus in being a tree, growing up to 12–15 metres tall.
Fuchsia leaves are opposite or in whorls of 3–5, simple lanceolate and usually have serrated margins (entire in some species), 1–25 cm long, and can be either deciduous or evergreen, depending on the species.
The flowers are very decorative; they have a pendulous "teardrop" shape and are displayed in profusion throughout the summer and autumn, and all year in tropical species. They have four long, slender sepals and four shorter, broader petals; in many species the sepals are bright red and the petals purple (colours that attract the hummingbirds that pollinate them), but the colours can vary from white to dark red, purple-blue, and orange. A few have yellowish tones, and recent hybrids have added the colour white in various combinations. The ovary is inferior and the fruit is a small (5–25 mm) dark reddish green, deep red, or deep purple berry, containing numerous very small seeds.
The vast majority of garden hybrids have descended from a few parent species.
This link is to a site that has a large gallery of flowers listed. http://www.fuchsiaflower.co.uk/gallery/index.htm
Photos below were photographed at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth during February.
