Fuchsia boliviana Carr., Onagraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Common name(s): [more details]

English: earring flower, fuchsia, lady's eardrops

French: flambeau d'amour, fuchsia à grandes fleurs, fuchsia de bolivie

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Erect bushy shrubs or small trees 2-4.5 (-6) m tall; older stems usually hollow. Leaves opposite or ternate, sometimes alternate near uppermost branching nodes, narrowly to broadly elliptic or ovate, 5-20 (-23) cm long, 3-12 (-15) cm wide, upper surface puberulent to glabrate, lower surface puberulent, sometimes densely so, margins glandular denticulate, petioles 2-5 (-7) cm long. Flowers perfect, numerous in terminal, pendent racemes or few-branched panicles, pedicels slender, pendent, 5-12 (-16) mm long; floral tube red, narrowly funnelform, (25-) 30-60 (-70) mm long; sepals red, lanceolate, 10-20 mm long; petals scarlet, oblong to elliptic, 8-16 (-20) mm long; stamens exserted; filaments 8-15 mm long. Berries cylindrical, 10-26 mm long" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 996).

Habitat/ecology:  Naturalized in mesic forests on Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, 3000-5000 elevation.  "Forests and their margins, scrub, riparian areas and open wasteland.  Forms dense thickets up to 2m tall and is shade-tolerant.  Shades out smaller plants and seedlings, preventing native plants establishing"  (Weedbusters New Zealand).

Propagation:  Seed.  "Birds spread the seeds long distances"  (Weedbusters New Zealand).

Native range:  From northern Argentina to southern Peru, often cultivated and widely naturalized (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 996).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 996)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Guatemala (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis Otho (1963) (pp. 529-30) As var. luxurians I. M. Johnston
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 904) "Scrub and much modified forest around settlements".
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Colombia	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	MacDonald, I. A. W./Thebaud, C./Strahm, W. A./Strasberg, D. (1991) (pp. 51-61)
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Envahissant"
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Lavergne, C. (2004) (p. 5)
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Baret, Stephane/Rouget, Mathieu/Richardson, David M./Lavergne, Christophe/Egoh, Benis/Dupont, Joel/Strasberg, Dominique (2006) (p. 758)

Comments:  On list of plants to be excluded from French Polynesia.

Control: 

Physical:  "Remove all seedlings and mulch. Dig out larger plants"  (Weedbusters New Zealand).