Fuchsia paniculata
Distribution: Mexico to Panama. Frequent in moist oak-pine and evergreen cloud forest from Veracruz, Mexico south to central Panama. North of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, it occurs only on the wet Caribbean facing-slopes in Puebla, Veracruz, and Oaxaca. This species grows at elevations of (800-)1,200-3,000 m.
Habit: Gynodioecious or subdioecious. Erect woody shrubs or small trees 3-8 m tall, usually glabrous. Branchlets ascending, 1-4 dm long, 2-5 m thick, subtriangular to quadrangular; older branches and main trunk 2-15 cm thick.
Leaves: Leaves opposite or 3-4-verticillate, subcoriaceous, elliptic to oblanceolate, acute to narrowly cuneate at base, acute to acuminate at apex, 5-15.5 cm long, 2-5.5 cm wide, deep lustrous green above, paler below; margin minutely to coarsely serrate; petiole 8-26 mm long; stipules triangular, often connate, 0.8-1.2 mm long, 0.7-1.5 mm wide, deciduous.
Flowers: Flowers erect and numerous in terminal, di- to trichotomously branched panicles, 10-14 cm long, 9-12 cm wide, narrowed towards the apex. Perfect flowers: Pedicels slender, 8-12 mm long, floral tube cylindric to subobconic, 4-8 mm long, 1-2 mm wide at base, 1.5-3 mm wide at the rim, often pilose within, sepals lanceolate, 5-10 mm long, 1.1-2.5 mm wide, spreading to reflexed at anthesis, tube and sepals rose-purple, petals lavender, lanceolate to elliptic, 4-10 mm long, 1.1-3.5 mm wide, acute at both ends, erect to spreading, nectary smooth to irregularly lobed ring 1.3-2 mm high adnate to the base of the tube, antisepalous filaments 4-13 mm long, antipetalous ones 2-11 mm long, pink, anthers broadly ovoid to reniform, 0.8-1.6(-2) mm long, 0.7-1.4 mm thick: style sparsely pilose, either exserted beyond anthers with a shortly 4-lobed stigma or included below the anthers and the stigma strongly reduced, lavender. Pistillate flowers: Similar to the perfect ones except in the following characters: floral tube smaller, 3-5.5 mm long, 0.7-1.7 mm wide at base, 1.5-2.2 mm wide at rim, sepals 3.5-7 mm long, 0.7-1.3 mm wide, petals 2.3-4.5 mm long, 0.6-1.3 mm wide, nectary 0.8-1.4 mm high, antisepalous filaments 1.5-4.9 mm long, antipetalous ones 1.0-3.9 mm long, anthers abortive, 0.4-0.8 mm long, 0.2-0.6 mm thick, style stout, 7-11 mm long, the.stigma well exserted 'above the stamens, 4-lobed, lobes 0.6-1.9 mm long.
Fruit: Berry subglobose, 4-9 mm long, 4-7 mm thick, purple with a glaucous, waxy bloom.
Seeds: Seeds 1-1.4 mm long, 0.5-0.8 mm thick.
Chromosomes: Gametic chromosome number, n = 11.
Notes: Flowering throughout the year.