Fuchsia arborescens Sims, Onagraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Common name(s): [more details]

Spanish: aretillo

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "A shrub or tree 1.5-8 meters high, glabrous throughout or nearly so, the trunk short and thick, the crown dense and rounded; leaves opposite or ternate, slender-petiolate, oblanceolate or oblanceolate-oblong, 7-20 cm long, acute or acuminate, attenuate to the base, entire or serrulate, paler beneath; flowers rose-red or red-purple, about 12 mm long, forming large and usually dense, terminal panicles; lobes of the calyx about equaling the tube, linear-oblong, obtuse, reflexed in flower; flower buds rounded or very obtuse at the apex; petals shorter than the sepals; stamens usually conspicuously exserted; fruit subglobose, as much as 1 cm in diameter when fresh, dark purple or purple-black, with a bloom" (Standley & Williams, 1963; pp. 528-529).

Habitat/ecology:  "Moist or wet, mixed forest or more often at the edge of the first or in open meadows, often in thickets, 1,300-2,900 m" [Guatemala] (Standley & Williams, 1963; pp. 528-529).

Propagation:  Not known.

Native range:  Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama (Standley & Williams, 1963; pp. 528-529).

Presence:

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1998) (voucher ID: PTBG 26300) Taxon name on voucher: Fuchsia arborescens Sims
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Reported invasive in Tanzania (Rejmánek, 1996).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Fuchsia arborescens is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Fuchsia arborescens as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Fuchsia arborescens may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 1998. Voucher specimen #PTBG26300(Karen Sidwell 472A).

Rejmánek, M. 1996. Species richness and resistance to invasions. In: Orians, G., R. Dirzo and J. H. Cushman (eds.). Biodiversity and ecosystem processes in tropical forests. Springer-Verlag. pp. 153-172.

Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis Otho. 1963. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part VII, No. 4. Chicago Natural History Museum. 163 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.