Gardening with Fuchsia Species -The Magellanicas
Ron Monnier American Fuchsia Society Member
Taffeta Bow Times, February 2003
Southwest Portland Fuchsia Club
Fuchsia species are those varieties that are the unhybridized plants in our collections. They are those that we would see if we traveled to their native habitat in Central and South America or Tahiti and New Zealand.Ron Monnier American Fuchsia Society Member
Taffeta Bow Times, February 2003
Southwest Portland Fuchsia Club
While many species come from tropical areas, many come from chilly areas. Those chilly areas could be habitat that is high in the Andes Mountains, Coastal areas in Southern Chile, or temperate areas in New Zealand. It is the species that come from these chilly areas that make good “hardy” fuchsias for us in the Northwest.
Like the hybrid fuchsia cultivars, the myriad of species have radically different growth habits. There are those that grow into large shrubs with long, gracefully arching branches. There are those that grow in small tight compact bushes. Some are aggressive scandent plants that can grow ten to twelve feet in a season. Some creep along the ground never growing longer than eighteen inches or getting taller than two inches. They all have their own unique and different foliage shape, texture, and color.
The plants most recognized when we think of hardy species are the magellanicas. The focus of this first article will be on magellanicas, their characteristics, and how you might utilize them in your garden. In the future, I will write other articles talking about other species suitable for use in the Northwest.
Magellanicas grow wild on mountain slopes at the southern most part of South America. While there are many magellanica variants recognized today, there is really only one true magellanica. It expresses itself two different ways in the wild. First, there is the regular magellanica that is an extremely hardy plant. It has small red over blue-purple blossoms. The foliage is small, thin and dark green. It is a strong upright bushy grower and is often used to make a hedge or as a large background plant in a garden border. Regardless, make sure when you plant magellanica, you give it plenty of room.
Growing side by side with the regular magellanica is magellanica ‘Alba’. The blossom is white over very pale pink. The small thin foliage is pale green. ‘Alba’, sometimes referred to as molinae, is not a different species or sub-species. It’s more like an albino version of the regular plant. Its growth habit is the same as the regular magellanica and every bit as hardy. Some plants in cultivation have developed mutated stems with variegated leaves. These mutations or sports have been vegetatively propagated to give us two new varieties.
‘Sharpitor’, sometimes called magellanica ‘Alba Variegata’, is a nice little plant. Its blossoms are identical to regular ‘Alba’ but its foliage is sage green and cream. ‘Enstone’ is another nice little variegated sport of ‘Alba’. It has the same blossom as well, but its foliage is sage green and gold. With both of these plants don’t expect the large stature or the hardiness of the plant they sported from. They rarely exceed twelve inches in height. As with many sports, the mutation that made them different also made them weaker. That’s why you would probably never see these mutations growing in the wild. For your garden though, if you were to give them a little extra protection they make fine additions to your border plantings
.
Magellanicas were first introduced to the western world back in the early 1800’s. Magellanicas are prolific seeders. Cross-pollination in gardens and conservatories over time produced plants that looked like magellanicas with minor variations. New plantlets would grow up and take over where the original plants were until the original magellanicas disappeared and only hybrids remained. Growers and experts categorized and classified these different plants as species, always noting their subtle differences. Now there are many plants that we have growing in our gardens that we call magellanicas. We know magellanica ‘riccartonii’, magellanica ‘gracillis’, magellanica ‘thompsonii’, magellanica ‘macrostema’, magellanica ‘globosa’ and the one I grow called magellanica ‘Grandma’s’. There are many others. They all have the characteristic robust growing plant with graceful arching branches. They all have the profusely produced small red over purple blossoms. To add to the messy confusion, over time some of these plants sported and they were classified as species as well
.One sport is referred to as magellanica ‘aurea’ and is sometimes called ‘Genii’. It has golden or chartreuse foliage in the spring that turns green in the summer with intense light and then back to the chartreuse in the fall. Another couple of sports is magellanica ‘variegata’ and magellanica ‘versicolor’. They both have cream and sage green foliage that is diffused with pink. The amount of color these sports have is also light dependent. They are most colorful in the spring and fall. They all have the typical red purple blossoms, but these sports don’t attain the stature of the green foliaged plants. They rarely get larger than three feet in height.
Recent genetic work has shown that none of these magellanicas are true species. In the beginning I found this whole idea really confusing and frustrating. “What do you mean all these magellanicas in my collection aren’t species?”, I fumed on numerous occasions. I was told to compare the blossom on any of the small blossomed, red and purple magellanicas to the blossom on magellanica ‘alba’. The sepals on all these magellanicas we have around here don’t recurve at all. They point straight down. On magellanica ‘alba’ they recurve to point straight out, 90 degrees. That’s what the true magellanica does. Until recently, there were no plants in cultivation exhibiting the traits of the real magellanica. An expedition to South America brought back a true magellanica for reintroduction.
So what does all this genetic stuff and hubbub mean to the average fuchsia gardener? SQUAT!!!… The plants designated as magellanicas are proven landscape plants. Who really cares whether they are true species. Use them. Love them. Enjoy them. I suppose to the real aficionado or a plant breeder it really does matter. For the majority of those who just want a nice blooming plant in the landscape, these hardy, robust, beautiful and floriferous plants deserve a spot in the garden.