Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Fuschia, Memorial Day, Schreiner's Iris Gardens

DSC_0158_fuschia_900_BeFunky_DSC_0158.jpg

I count myself blessed by the grace of God when I see such beauty. But I have to wonder, "How did this pretty flower end up with such an odd name?"

So, I looked and found some info on the Internet.

  • Fuchsia (/ˈfjuːʃə/, few-shə) is a vivid shade of red, purplish-red or pink named after the flower of the fuchsia plant, itself named after the German scientist Leonhart Fuchs. Fuchs' name is preserved by the plant Fuchsia, discovered in the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean in 1696/97 by the French scientist Dom Charles Plumier, who published the first description of "Fuchsia triphylla, flore coccineo" in 1703. The color fuchsia is also named for him, describing the purplish-red of the shrub's flowers. 
  • Leonhart Fuchs (1501 – 10 May 1566), sometimes spelled Leonhard Fuchs, was a German physician and botanist. His chief notability is as the author of a large book about plants and their uses as medicines, i.e. a Herbal Book. It was first published in 1542 in Latin. It has about 500 accurate and detailed drawings of plants, which were printed from woodcuts. The drawings are the book's most notable advance on its predecessors. Although drawings were in use beforehand in other Herbal books, Fuch's Herbal book proved and emphasized high-quality drawings as the most telling way to specify what a plant name stands for.

3 comments:

LONDONLULU said...

It's a beauty of a flower and I had no idea about the name origin. So fascinating, love learning these new details.

Jack said...

Your photo today is beautiful, and I enjoyed reading about how it was named. We learn new things every day.

Randy said...

What a beauty you captured here. I always marvel at Mother Natures work when I see flowers like this.