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Fuchsia magellanica
Also called Fuchsia, Hummingbird Fuchshia
A hardy, sprawling shrub from southern South America with drooping red and purple flowers that hummingbirds visit. Give it a sunny spot and moist soil, and it will flower for months.
Fuchsia magellanica – commonly known as the hummingbird fuchsia, hardy fuchsia or chilco (from Mapudungun: chillko "watery") – is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family Onagraceae, native to the lower Southern Cone of southern South America.
They arrived in England in the late 18th century. According to tradition, the English gardener James Lee discovered them on the windowsill of a seaman's house and bought them for a considerable sum. As early as 1793 Lee is said to have sold a large number of pieces that he had pulled from this one copy. Fuchsia magellanica, and its cultivars and hybrids, are widely cultivated by plant nurseries and gardeners as ornamental plants. They are grown in temperate and subtropical gardens and conservatories, in containers on patios, balconies, and indoors. They prefer a sunny position.
The plants are quite cold-hardy compared to other species from more tropical climates, being deciduous where frosts are light, and only top die back in hard frosts (with mulching). The profuse drooping flowers are a nectar source attractive to hummingbirds.
This species of Fuchsia occurs in temperate southern regions of Argentina and Chile, from latitude 32°50' S. to the Straits of Magellan. Fuchsia magellenica thrives in damp scrublands, forest edges, or clearings, often close to water sources. It is geographically isolated from the Brazilian species of the Quelusia section by a distance of 1000-1500 km. In Australia, the species is recorded as naturalized in the states of Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
Bolivian fuchsia · Fuchsia canescens · New Zealand fuchsia · Fuchsia glazioviana · Hatschbach's Fuchsia · Small Leaf Fuchsia · Honeysuckle Fuchsia · Volcan's fuchsia · Lady's eardrops genus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Fuchsia magellanica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
