The Fuchsia.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 17 September 1910, Page 2

The Fuchsia.

ITS HISTORY, DISTRIBUTK AND CULTIVATION.

SPECIALLY WRITTEN Foil THE lIOKOWHENUA CHRONICLE.

(By "Unit.") To most people the fuchsia is a very prosaic and common garden plant; yet it is more than probable ' that it is surrounded, did 1 Ave but know it, with a halo of romance. That it has been witness to many stirring scenes is certain, and many a tale of blood and slaughter it could tell. Some of the most gorgeous species are natives of Alexico and Peru, and must have witnessed the invasion of Cortes and Pizarro, with their _ hosts of Spanish warriors, seeking the wondrous treasures of the Incas. One can easily imagine those fierce warriors who must .have been the first Europeans to see the fuchsia, decorating their inward march. Equally easy is it to imagine the mockery their brilliant colours must have held foi them on their backward march; the remnant of thorn worn out with toil, war and disease, and dispirited with their fruitless search. And maybe graceful plumes of fuchsias are even now waving above the buried treasure, which lias already cost so much in life and wealth, and the search for which will yet be the occasion of many an eager quest, fo me the fuchsia has a pastoral romance of times of peace and happiness. It always reminds me of little girls wearing the flowers as earrings and converting them into "little ladies," by the simple device of pinching out the stigma so that it can stand on the stamens as legs, and removing the stalk, so that the seed vessel forms the head ; and very gay an array of these little ladiies in crinolines look. It was these little memories brought to my mind how possible it is that, the fierce warriors bent on conquest, first finding the strange and beautiful flowers may have been the first of white people to decorate themselves with them.

y THE FUCIISTA IN EUROPE. The fuchsia lias been known ir .Pjiiuxype only since quite moden 0 times. T remember when a lac e being tokl that it was first brougln : 1 I'? England by a sailor, who salt Ij bis plant to Mr Lee, a nurserymai n or Hammersmith, near London _ who after increasing it by propas gation, sokl a large number for a K'linea. each, only one plant 'being shown at a time. A very nice lit 2> tie story quite generally believed e In/k \y it]l in it whatever , 1 110 Hi<Jisia was first introduced, b) Iveonaj'tl l ( uchs, a German botanist about 1823. J ITS DISTIMBUTION. t The fuchsia is not found wild ir t many countries; in fact, if tlu J' countries we're not so big, or if youi t arms were longer, you might stant V on one spot of eairth and gatboj t.iein all up in your arms, all ex- - ''"pt about four, for all hut their •• J are found in tropical America. PerI i';;ps some one of my readers wil , } tell me where is Pichiiiehia. ] 1 I '• oiiki like in know, for that is th< 1 home of the beautiful triphylla \\ Inch is well knoAvji in this neighJ bourhood. Other countries try t{ ' t'jiiim fuchsias and cannot. ' Tlk ; Ulilornian fuchsia is not a fuchsia though second cousin as apj)earanc< goes; it is zaucheneria californica. ! 'Similarly the Ca]>o fuchsia is iu km, and not even in appearance can it claim relationship; it is phyzellins capensis. And now, supposing you fancj yourself at tho Cape, whither yon have gone on tho swift wings' oJ thought, in search of the Oap< ; fuchsia, yon must with equal celer- * it}' return to New Zealand to find so far from their relatives on the American continent, true fuchsias I ( oi the Lnnd of the Moa lias tlirot species. Fuchsia excorticata is the jvohiiituh'utu of the .Maoris—the tree < like variety that bears the edibk I ii'iwt. I fancy I hear some readei , he means tho "konini!" N T < inend T do not mean the konini, but the tree that bears konini, fool it is the fruit only that is known to the Maori by that name. Fuchsia eolensoi is a similar plant, but less strong, a mere -bus]) in fact. Ilvere are also some minor point* • ol difference in the flowers, but t.he\ are of no consequence to us. Fuch•sjri procumbent—formerly known a,« ; Ivirkii—is unlike 'anv othei n/;lisifi, it is a small trailing plant wiLh tiny green and yellow bowerf ; '"id pmk coloured fruit, and it is ffjeatl.v prized as a basket plant. None of the native species have bright coloured flowers, and interest in them for the student of flowers is chiefly centred on the fact that our excorticata. and the splenitis of Mexico, are the only instances where the floral structure is the same Both ,havo tho car--0 n. attenuated almost to a millity. it there is the striking difference that the Mexican p]ajit has the j calyx so Co ] f) „, rG{l t(j constitute it, even with the carol la of tfe 0,10 I ' llC ,nost 01 t-lie genus.

MAXY SPECIE# IX CULTrVA TION.

in ,!,°h C n,a specics of fuchsia flip, l lVi T' q " lto a of zZhuT 0 nl" '!T vt6d il,u > Nenv as "g& 2™w'"h, k ° *11,. p "'" ,l ". r ™«Mption «?jsfer TursMr •*" «d ~! Thyi» PW forms of the common Pi.iiit, ami are prolia.bly parents of j «o f- V wein ,s so - TnphylJa is '<11111,% well-known, and <1 proil.v little plant it is, witli flow 01s of bright scarlet; a. tender best lr i,r' v • woak srowor n ,t Tlin * f r ,1S 1S «*• strong plant The foliage ,s very Inr*o mm«Kl with a flannel-like dwni drooping racemes on lons foot stalks, so that they .read ■neady a foot in l eil cr t ], ■ col/mv 1 ncli Vermillion all "over. ok™ varieties I will mention are of simi 'ar lwl.it, b„t smaller in o] ™ c 'f>¥ S jet cocr-inea ' crimson, "Ho iviain'' crimson, "Mao-ellamiVn»i, • 55,;r mH « t,:

FLORISTS' HYBRIDS. T]»e ~u .. that most people Ju)oa\ are not .spccios hint +i,n tiona of ilonstf 1* C ™; K«w wild anywhere -here T e tint 5 the MinidiW, so amt%riZ IZ n" are «»itmua.lb 1 ] smin.,, out there seems tn li/> :;i , "t y 3 ' ra '!' s . «nd »■• «( Ac ™*« St „f a s, ,oSt -- Lve n,KI nleo i™ 861 * J «™« r / e > a,Kj al ™ lie was a Kino: of Aire °'r S 'l,ol' m6s I Jy * Uyed " Yorfc snue, 1 believe : at anv rata it u-oc towards the North of Engird- yet ™-e sent all tile waV 2 London to Royal Horticultural &>- vans S am®, trareUi, f ™ covered ionrnev ,d h ffiT VGral (h >' s on the Pyramids Jv Y We / e xvortil it! fZI T,«?, 1 f f n ? 0 'i nd n ° wer ni » e tlio-ir «. + • S , IX througihi, they T,ere triumphs of cultural art. wir'' - lns g C OWn two of Lye's seedling's—viz., James Lye and Annie Lye—and very goiod rtiiev were One occasionally sees iL a SfSlt C t bni ybu «"»- not.get it true; it has gone, and a gieat mty it is.- TOie true flower friSK' " c]l " nr P ]e > ami wifth a Imgiht green margin round each petal. Avalancho is one of the

oldest doubles. About 1873 appeared Henderson's Avdldnchej with similar flowers, but yellowish foliage. The beautiful variegated Siim-ay came out about the same timej and Golden Fleece with it. I was at the time among a fine collection of .fuchsias, and these new sorts were .added tb the collection; Venus de Aledici is one of the v&ry first, and was probably contemporaneous with Rose of Castile — a variety fairly plentiful in New Zealand a few years ago. They are but poor things by comparison with others. Down through the years the names are constantly changing, but the varieties are not . always better. Wave of Life is ric*t so good as Henderson's Avalanohe; Aliss Lucy Finis won't grow worth a cent, Airs E. G. Hill is a superb double white; the Phenomenal family, purple, wiluite, lavender, are all good in flower and growth. Covent Garden White is not white at all, except the calyx; the corollais cerise; it is a. fine variety for specimens, but my favourites are still ilie very old sorts. Arabella, Lustre, iMaiPgiiiaU, Major Heapy, Avalanohe, Enchantress; they are varieties to make plants of.

(To be concluded ill fiexi issue.)