Fuchsia procumbens
Past favourite plant finalist
Common names
creeping fuchsia, climbing fuchsia, trailing fuchsia
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp, DPS, DPT
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Lianes & Related Trailing Plants - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Violet/Purple, Yellow
Detailed description
Subdioecious, lianoid, creeping, glabrescent, prostrate shrub forming large scrambling masses. Stems woody, pliant, slender 3-6 mm diameter, up to 2 m long; branchlets even more slender. Petioles filiform, 15-30 mm long, glabrous or sparsely hairy. Leaves 5-20 x 5-20 mm, suborbicular to broad-ovate, membranous, glabrous to glabrate, sinuate, subserrulate; base subcordate; apex obtuse or rounded. Flowers solitary, erect, pedicels erect, 5-8 mm long, slender. Flora tube 6-12 mm long, golden yellow, tubular-campanulate. Sepals 5-8 mm, lanceolate or narrow-lanceolate, purplish at apices, sharply reflexed. Petals absent. Filaments 2-4 mm, slender, purple. Style 8-16 mm, > staminodes in female flowers, almost = to stamens in perfect flowers; stigma capitate to 4-lobed. Berry 15-25 x 5-10 mm, ovoid-oblong to obovoid, crimson to magenta often with a waxy bloom.
Similar taxa
None.
Distribution
Endemic. North Island from the Ninety Mile Beach and Perpendicular Point south to Maunganui Bluff in the west and Kennedy Bay (Coromandel Peninsula) in the east. It is known as a naturalised plant on Kapiti Island.
Habitat
A strictly coastal species. F. procumbens has been collected from cobble/gravel beaches, coastal cliff faces, coastal scrub and grassland, dune slacks and swales, and from the margins of saltmarshes (in places where it would be inundated during spring tides). It is quite tolerant of naturalised grasses and may be found growing amongst dense swards of kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum Chiov.).
Threats
At various times regarded as seriously threatened, partly because some populations comprise only the single sex-type. However, comprehensive surveys throughout this species range have discovered new populations and confirmed the persistence of the majority of the older sites. Indeed its range has hardly contracted, and it would seem that the distribution of sex-types is natural. Because the species is so tolerant of environmental disturbance and weeds it is now regarded as biologically sparse. However, some populations have been eliminated recently by coastal development for holiday homes. If this trend continues then this species will probably qualify for a higher level of threat in the not to distant future.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Fuchsia kirkii Hook.f.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
September - May
Fruiting
November - July
Life cycle and dispersal
Fleshy berries are dispersed by invertebrate frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easy from layered pieces, fresh seed and semi-hardwood cuttings. A remarkably adaptable plant that can be grown in most situations. It makes an excellent ground cover and is ideal for a hanging basket.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACU: Facultative Upland
Occasionally is a hydrophyte but usually occurs in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Etymology
fuchsia: After Leonhart Fuchs (17 Jan 1501 - 10 May 1566), a German physician and regarded as one of the three founding fathers of botany.
procumbens: Sprawling
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
FUCPRO
Chromosome number
2n = 22
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Sparse
Regional conservation statuses
Auckland: 2025 | Regionally Threatened – Regionally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: DPS, DPT, PF, Sp
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Auckland conservation status information is sourced from the “Conservation status of vascular plant species in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland” Simpkins E et al. (2025) report.
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange for NZPCN (1 June 2013)
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Fuchsia procumbens Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/fuchsia-procumbens/ (Date website was queried)