San Francisco Botanical Garden - Gardens

Epilobium canum (formerly Zauschneria)
"CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA"

Find Epilobium canum in the Arthur L. Menzies Garden of California Native Plants (Beds 34, 35 and 38).

Scientific Name	Epilobium canum
Common Name	California fuschia, Hummingbird Trumpet, Mexican Balsamea
Family	Onagraceae
Plant Type	Herbaceous Perennial
Environment	Dry to semi-dry well drained soil in full sun to part shade. Grows to 1-2 feet tall, with arching stems. Excellent for difficult rocky slopes in full sun. Low growing, very water thrifty.
Bloom	August - October, Red, Pink or Salmon colored tubular flowers, 1-2" long
Uses	Ornamental for late season color and difficult seasonaly dry sites. Attracts Hummingbirds and butterflies. Native people used it as a urinary tract tonic and for fevers in children.
More Info	Theodore Payne Foundation Calflora Jepson Flora Project Medicinal Uses

Profile Contributors: Fred Bové and Tony Morosco

When late summer enfolds California in a monotone world of burnt grasses and parched chaparrals, "California fuchsias" appear perched on flinty hillsides or in rocky crevices, with their dazzling scarlet flowers rising out of straggly clumps of narrow grey green leaves. After five or more months without rain, their arrival on the landcape reaffirms the resilience of nature in our Mediterranean climate.

It is not a true fuchsia except for its look alike color and shape: tubular with protruding stamens. After a century or more of being called Zauschneria, botanists have re-classified it, grouped it with the fireweeds, and changed its name to theirs: Epilobium.

Its tough, shredded stems grow from rhizomes (flat thick roots) growing almost horizontally and its flowers are delicate and short lived. Several hybrids have been developed from Epilobium canum, some with pink trumpets, some with white.