''Deppea splendens'' ( syn. ''Csapodya splendens''), the golden fuchsia, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...

. It grows to tall as a shrub or small tree, and has pendant clusters of flowers with gold tubular corollas and red to pink calyces. It was once native to high elevation cloud forest in the state

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, but has been prusumed

extinct in the wild A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as only consisting of living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range ...

since its habitat was cleared for farmland. It is now found only in

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

, although efforts have been made to reintroduce it in Mexico. Dennis Breedlove was a botanist at the California Academy of Science researching plants and ethnobotany in Chiapas when he discovered it in 1972 in the Motozintla de Mendoza municipality; he brought seeds of the then undescribed shrub to San Francisco in 1981 (he described it formally in 1987). That seed was grown at the University of California Botanical Garden. All plants in existence are from that introduction. It is now grown widely grown, including in the

San Francisco Conservatory of flowers The Conservatory of Flowers is a greenhouse and botanical garden that houses a collection of rare and exotic plants in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. With construction having been completed in 1879, it is the oldest building in the ...

, The San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum, and at the Huntington in Southern California.

References

Hamelieae {{Cinchonoideae-stub