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The Importance of sunlight in our lives cannot be overstated. Apart from recent concerns over the dangers of over-exposing ones skin to the UV component, we and all other forms of life, benefit in some way or other from energy, sourced from our sun some 150 million kilometres away.
Much attention has been focussed on the comparatively recent attempts by scientists to convert solar energy (with the use of photo-electric cells) into commercially viable quantities of electrical power. However, nature has been doing this very successfully almost since day one. In fact, if the individual, minute quantities of electricity generated in all the leaves and foliage of plants throughout the world could be combined, it would provide enough energy to light and heat the largest city.
The healthy leaves of most fuchsia plants are various shades of green. The reason for the colouration is the presence of chloroplasts. These small structures which exist within the cells of each leaf are packed with a green substance - Chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a catalyst, meaning that while it can assist in producing a chemical change in another substance or mixture, it remains unaffected
Here is a simplistic explanation of how the action of sunlight striking the leaf of a plant, causes water, carbon dioxide and chlorophyll - when they are present within the cells of the leaf tissue - to combine in an Electro-chemical reaction, and produce food and energy for the plant. (Carbon dioxide is taken up by the stomata cells in the leaves, and water by the root system of the plant).
Sunlight falling on the leaf causes a reaction between the molecules of chlorophyll within the chloroplast. Minute electric currents are generated and these cause - by a process akin to electrolysis - the water to break down into the elements of hydrogen and oxygen.
The oxygen is released back into the atmosphere and the carbon dioxide combines with the hydrogen in an extremely complex chemical process to form glucose (the chlorophyll remains unchanged). The plant gets its main source of nutriment and we are able to breathe more easily.
Respiration, almost the reverse cycle, now occurs. Glucose is broken down (again by an extremely complex process) and is used as energy by the plant. In the process the glucose is oxidised and is turned back into water vapour and carbon dioxide, both are then respired by the plant via the stomata cells.
This article may go some way to explaining why fuchsias fare badly in full shade (shade loving plants, obtaln energy by means of additional/different processes). Without sunlight our fuchsias would be fungi. . .?
Postscript. Not so very long ago, it was believed that flowers left overnight in the room of a sick person could generate enough carbon dioxide to have a detrimental effect on the patient. This has been proved to be entirely fallacious.
John Morris