Fuchsia Species
The genus Fuchsia is made up of around 100 species of shrubs and small trees. The vase majority are native to Central and South America, where they often occur in cloud forests. A few species are found in Tahiti and New Zealand. In addition to the species there are countless garden hybrids in a bewildering array of flower colours and forms. Fuchsia flowers are very distinctive, usually pendulous, and made up of a tube with prominent sepals that has a showy corolla of petals within. Most garden fuchsias fall into two flower forms, the long-tubed tender triphylla types and the more common and hardier short-tubed types with larger, more rounded flowers. Most form rounded bushes but some are trailing and best suited to hanging basket cultivation, while others are very upright and may be trained as standards or espaliers. Fuchsias vary in hardiness and are unusual plants in that they are evergreen in mild areas but deciduous if exposed to frost.
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