| Zauschneria | ||||||||||||
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Zauschneria californica | ||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
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| Species | ||||||||||||
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Z. californica Z. californica augustifolium Z. californica cana Z. californica latifolium Z. septentrionalis |
Zauschneria is a genus of about four species of perennial plants found on dry slopes and in chaparral of western North America, notable for their profusion of bright scarlet flowers in late summer and autumn. The genus is sometimes included in Epilobium (fireweeds), and common names include California fuchsia, hummingbird flower, and hummingbird trumpet (they being very attractive to hummingbirds).
Native populations of these plants exhibit considerable variation in appearance and habit. The small leaves may be opposite or alternate, lance-shaped or ovate, with short to nonexistent stalks, and range in color from green to nearly white. Overall shape may be matting or mounding, the plants commonly spreading via rhizomes. The racemes of tubular or funnel-shaped flowers are terminal, and colors are mostly reddish, ranging from fuchsia to pink to red-orange.
As befits their origin, they prefer to be cultivated in well-drained soil exposed to full sun but protected from the wind, and need little watering.
A small number of hybrid cultivars have been introduced by various growers, in some cases by working from isolated populations, such as those on Santa Cruz Island off the California coast.
The genus is named after Johann Baptista Josef Zauschner (1737-1799), a professor of medicine and botany in Prague.