ABC WEDNESDAY - F IS FOR FUCHSIA, THE TEARDROPS OF MANN

For Bibi, Teardrops of Mann

I have mentioned before the cushag, (gorse) being the unofficial flower of the Isle of Man. The Fuchsia though also has island links and is commonly referred to as the "Teardrops Of Mann." Not a spelling mistake you will often see it spelt like this, especially in these kind of sayings. Why they are referred to as the teardrops of Mann I don't know, I have drawn a blank. Anyone know? I can tell you they are all over the island in various forms though. There are some Fuchsia Tree lined roads and when the petals fall you do get a beautiful carpet of red or pink fallen blooms which are extremely pretty.

Just a few snippets about the pretty flower, and remember it's just for fun.

Fuchsia is a genus of flowering plants, mostly shrubs and can grow long shoots, which were identified by Charles Plumier in the late-17th century, and named by Plumier in 1703 after the German botanist Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566).^[1] The English vernacular name Fuchsia is the same as the scientific name.

While the original pronunciation from the word's German origin is "fook-sya" /ˈfʊksja/, most English speakers tend to say "fyew'sha" /ˈfjuːʃə/. As a result, the word is often subjected to misspellings such as "fushcia" or "fuschia". In English, the other accepted pronunciation is "fyewk'see-ah", which is somewhat truer to the word's origin.

Among horticultural writers the fuchsia is jocularly referred to as "the world's most carefully spelled flower," a label which was apparently first given to it by Jimmy Barnes.

Leonhart Fuchs was born in 1501. He occupied the chair of Medicine at the Tübingen University from the age of 34 until his death, on the 10th May 1566. Besides his medical knowledge, according to his record of activities which was extensive for the time, he studied plants. This was natural, for most of the remedies of the time were herbal and the two subjects were often inseparable. In the course of his career Fuchs wrote De Historia Stirpium, which was published in 1542. In honour of Fuchs' work the fuchsia received its name shortly before 1703 by Charles Plumier

The image is a stock photo of mine, a library shot, basically camera practise just before I went out to shoot the TT Motorbike Races. Before sport events I always try the camera out, for speed, white balance, and lighting conditions. This is a completely natural shot. As you can see I decided not to crop or clone the branch out of the top left corner or tidy the image up so to speak or tone down the colours. A natural shot should be that, warts and all.

Want to join ABC got the lovely hostess with the mostest, MRS NESBITT'S PLACE