Erect or scrambling shrub to 3 m or so tall.Young branchlets reddish brown, hairless or bristly hairy. Leaves opposite, or in 3s or sometimes 4s, to about 5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, the margin round-toothed. Flowers solitary or paired in the axils of the upper leaves, flower tube to about 1.5 cm long, cylindrical or widening slightly at the mouth. Fruit to about 2 cm long, oblong.

A variable species in the wild that has also been in cultivation for many years and with a range of garden variants; it has become naturalised in many countries and has been recorded for Vic.

Among variants offered are botanical varieties that may be difficult to differentiate from cultivars.:

var. macrostema (Ruiz &Pav.) Munz, originally described as having leaves 2.5-5 cm long and flower stalks 4-5.5 cm long, the flower tube, sepals, ovary and flower stalks red

var. molinae Espinosa with flower tube and sepals pink and the ovary and flower stalks green

var. gracilis (Lindl.) L.H. Bail. which is a narrow-growing plant with paired leaves and numerous scarlet and purple flowers.

Chile, Argentina.

Source: Waldron, M.; Spencer, R. (2002). Fuchsia. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.