Pale Pink. Fuchsia magellanica var. molinae Espinosa, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
It's often called 'alba' or white, is our Fuchsia magellanica, var. molinae Espinosa. In fact though, its 'petticoats' are of a very pretty pale pink.
This Fuchsia hails from the large island of Chiloé about 1000 kms south of Santiago de Chile. Marcial Ramón Espinosa Bustos (1874-1959) in 1929 named it to honor Juan Ignacio Molina (1740-1829), formidable polymath born in Chile. He entered the Jesuit order and on its supression in that country fled to Italy where he among other positions was professor of Greek in Bologna. He continued his work in natural history and was one of the precursors of the theory of the gradual evolution of species for which Charles Darwin is so famous. In fact, Darwin often refers to Molina in his works.
Espinosa writes on the centenary of Molina's death when he made his scientific description of our Fuchsia: 'Es para mí muy satisfactorio dedicir esta variedad, como un modesto homenaje, al eminente naturalista e historiador chileno, el abate don Juan Ignacio Molina'.
Pale Pink. Fuchsia magellanica var. molinae Espinosa, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
It's often called 'alba' or white, is our Fuchsia magellanica, var. molinae Espinosa. In fact though, its 'petticoats' are of a very pretty pale pink.
This Fuchsia hails from the large island of Chiloé about 1000 kms south of Santiago de Chile. Marcial Ramón Espinosa Bustos (1874-1959) in 1929 named it to honor Juan Ignacio Molina (1740-1829), formidable polymath born in Chile. He entered the Jesuit order and on its supression in that country fled to Italy where he among other positions was professor of Greek in Bologna. He continued his work in natural history and was one of the precursors of the theory of the gradual evolution of species for which Charles Darwin is so famous. In fact, Darwin often refers to Molina in his works.
Espinosa writes on the centenary of Molina's death when he made his scientific description of our Fuchsia: 'Es para mí muy satisfactorio dedicir esta variedad, como un modesto homenaje, al eminente naturalista e historiador chileno, el abate don Juan Ignacio Molina'.