VMS -- Botany (f13v) Fuchsia?

["Dana F. Scott" <dfscott@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a deceptively complex plant to attempt to identify. At first
glance the flower looks simple to identify. It looks like Fuchsia, but
on closer examination there are immediate problems. The petals seem to
be in the wrong place, the flowers would be upside down for Fuchsia and
the leaves don't look quite right for this species. Then there is the
problem of where and when Fuchsia was first discovered, the Western
Hemisphere, 17th century? If we can agree that this plant is indeed
Fuchsia, then it would seem to me that Fuchsia was known in Europe prior
to Father Charles Plumier's adventures to the New World during the 17th
Century. I expect that there might be other plants with similar looking
flowers to Fucshia. The roots  and leaf grouping on the plant in the VMS
would also provide a clue. I suspect that there is quite a bit more work
to be done to narrow this identification down to a few possibilities. It
is interesting. I wonder what the colors of the flowers are in the VMS?

Photo:
http://nic.dicom.se/fuchsias/northilda.html
http://nic.dicom.se/fuchsias/duykfen.html
http://nic.dicom.se/fuchsias/adorable.html
http://nic.dicom.se/fuchsias/abbefarges.html
http://www.fuchsiamagic.co.uk/
http://www.fuchsias.net/catalog2000/fuchsias-uprights_wa-zyz.htm
http://www.fuchsias.net/catalog2000/fuchsias-upright_fu-gre.htm
http://www.fuchsias.net/catalog2000/fuchsias-uprights_lo-mep.htm
http://nic.dicom.se/fuchsias/venusvictrix.html
http://nic.dicom.se/fuchsias/whiteknightscheeky.html

History:
http://www.krichardson5.freeserve.co.uk/web%20page/fuchsia%20history.htm

http://www.aquarius-flora.com/history/fuchsia.htm
http://www.jayfour.freeserve.co.uk/mdfs/hist_species.html

Identification from pictures is not possible?:
http://nic.dicom.se/fuchsias/pictures.html

Regards,
Dana Scott