''Epilobium canum'', also known as California fuchsia or Zauschneria, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

willowherb Willowherbs are annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the flowering plant family Onagraceae. Willowherb may refer to: * A species of willowherb in the genus ''Epilobium'' * A species of willowherb in the genus ''Chamaenerion ''Chamaenerion'' ...

in the evening primrose family (

Onagraceae The Onagraceae are a family of flowering plants known as the willowherb family or evening primrose family. They include about 650 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

of western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, especially

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is a

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

, notable for the profusion of bright scarlet

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s in late summer and autumn. The name reflects that in the past it used to be treated in a distinct genus ''Zauschneria'', but modern studies have shown that it is best placed within the genus ''Epilobium''. Other common names include California-fuchsia (from the resemblance of the flowers to those of

fuchsia ''Fuchsia'' ( ) is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. Almost 110 species of ''Fuchsia'' are recognized; the vast majority are native to South America, but a few occur north through Central America to Mex ...

s), hummingbird flower or hummingbird trumpet (the flowers are very attractive to

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

s), and firechalice. The original genus name was in honor of Johann Baptista Josef Zauschner (1737–1799), a professor of

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Description

It is a

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often interch ...

growing to 60 cm tall. Native populations of these plants exhibit considerable variation in appearance and habit. The small

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

may be opposite or alternate, lance-shaped or ovate, with short to nonexistent stalks, and range in color from green to nearly white. Overall shape may be matting or mounding, the plants commonly spreading via

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s. The

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s of tubular or funnel-shaped flowers are terminal, and colors are mostly reddish, ranging from fuchsia to pink to red-orange. The wide degree of variation has led to the description of many

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, mostly no longer recognised as distinct due to the extensive intergradation between them; the following are still recognised: * ''Epilobium canum'' subsp. ''canum'' (including subsp. ''angustifolia'', subsp. ''microphylla'') * ''Epilobium canum'' subsp. ''garrettii'' * ''Epilobium canum'' subsp. ''latifolium'' EPILOBIUM CANUM SYN

Cultivation

As befits their origin, they prefer to be cultivated in well-drained soil exposed to full sun but protected from the wind, and need little watering. ''Epilobium canum'' subsp. ''canum'' is hardy to USDA zone 8a. ''Epilobium canum'' (or its cultivar(s)) is a recipient of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

under the ''Zauschneria californica'' name. A small number of hybrid

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s have been introduced by various growers, in some cases by working from isolated populations, such as those on

Santa Cruz Island Santa Cruz Island (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Isla Santa Cruz'', Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Limuw'') is located off the southwestern coast of Ventura, California, United States. It is the largest island in California and largest of the ei ...

off the

coast.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - Epilobium Canum

Zauschneria - Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5382993 canum Flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the West Coast of the United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Western United States Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Bird food plants Butterfly food plants Plants described in 1887 Flora without expected TNC conservation status

Description

Cultivation

See also

References

External links