What are fuchsias? and the wide range of colours how are they created?

Nicknamed the ballerina dancing flower due to their unique shapes and forms, fuchsias are perhaps one of the most fascinating garden flowers one can have in a garden. Their enchanting leaves and graceful look resemble that of eloquent dancers in colourful skirts. There are over 100 species of fuchsia with over 10 000 varieties, and like all plants require care for them to blossom into beautiful enchanting wild dancers.

Fuchsias were discovered nearly 300 years ago by Father Charles Plumier in South America . He named them after the famous German botanist Leonhart Fuchs and described the fuchsia as a 3 leaved fuchsia with red flowers Fuchsia triphylla flore coccinea. More species were discovered in the 1840s in South America , Haiti , Santa Domingo and New Zealand . The fuchsias were distributed along the western coasts of the British Isles , in Scotland and Ireland .

Fuchsias originated in the tropical regions; however they are not only confined to these regions. They grow well on lightly wooded mountain slopes which are very humid, have humus rich soil which is aerated and porous.

Hybrid development

Hybrid plants are created by mixing two different, pure species parents. The mixing of these two different species can happen through wind or insect pollination. Hybrids can also be formed due to human interference in normal plant growth. The first human-created hybrids appeared in 1832through crossing different species such as Fuchsias magellanica and Fuchsias bacillaris.

New varieties can also be created through plant mutation. Mutations are characterized by spontaneous appearance of variations in the flower colours, shapes and growth. Mutations are caused by climatic changes, radiation or cellular toxins such as colchicines. In laboratories scientists use radiation and toxins to make the plant mutate. Cuttings are then taken from the mutated plant and allowed to root creating a new cultivar.

How the wide range of colours was created

Fuchsias have a wide range of colours and have lead hybridizers to experiment with them.

  • Orange this was the first species to be discovered Fuchsia triphylla.

  • Violet Fuchsia lycioides and Fuchsia arborescens

  • White-green combined with red Fuchsia excorticate and perscandens

  • Bright-pink Fuchsia microphylla

  • Flame red Fuchsia fulgens, yellow-orange Fuchsias splendens.

  • White-green with reddish orange Fuchsia denticulate.

These species were the first ones to be used for hybridization. The first cultivar which was created had a white tube, petals and a purple corolla and was named Venus Victrix. Most plants that produce flowers with white parts contain genetic material from Venus Victrix.

In 1848 scientists were able to create a cultivar with a pure white corolla. French and German hybridizers started to create tryphilla hybrids. Tryphilla hybrids were sun resistant and produced flowers in racemes. They are now grown all over the world.

American Fuchsias

The American Fuchsias Society was born in 1929 its sole purpose being the study of the delicate wild tropical plant. The society carried out a lot of hybridization experiments and they created hybrids with very large flowers. The society was very successful in creating glowing colours and unique flower shapes. In the 1970s yet another variety imaged producing flowers with a dark aubergine-coloured corolla and sky-blue stamens.