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Why Ocotillo?

Why did I name my webpage "Ocotillo's World"? The ocotillo is a unique desert plant. I enjoy traveling to the desert and I feel that the ocotillo is a splendid symbol of the life existing there despite harsh conditions.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE OCOTILLO FROM Adventuring in the California Desert by Lynne Foster.
This 10-ft shrub with its bright red flowers does most of its branching from its base, which gives it a characteristic shape. The ocotillo we see in the California desert (Fouquieria splendens) has somewhat translucent, scaly bark and produces a fruit that at maturity opens into a three-valved capsule and releases its seeds. When the shrub is growing and elongating at each node, it has normal-looking leaves. These leaves are relatively short-lived; they fall as the soil dries out and water becomes unavailable. Surprisingly, though, the leaf stem and part of the midrib do not drop, but take on the appearance of a large, rigid, slightly curved spine.

When the ocotillo is not growing, soaking rains prompt the production of delicate, bright green leaves in just a few days, particularly in warm weather. These leaves fall from the plant when the earth again dries out. This cycle of leaf production and falling can be as short as a month. Unlike the primary leaves, all that is left after these secondary leaves fall is a minute scar.

This ocotillo is a Colorado Desert species that ranges into Baja California. There are several related species in Baja that, although somewhat different from the species found in the California desert, are readily recognizable as being of the ocotillo family (Fouquieriaceae).

Ocotillo (Fouqueria splendens), pronouced "o-ko-tee'-yo", is a native of the Sonoran Desert. Although it is dry most of the year and has spines up its branches, the ocotillo is not a cactus since it grows true leaves. The plant is funnel shaped, with long, straight, mostly unbranched stems. Its habitat is dry, rocky slopes; the ocotillo grows as tall as 9 meters (30 feet). Leaves are bright green and appear after a rain storm. Bright red flowers grow in bunches up to 25 cm (10 inches) long at the end of the stems. The leaves and flowers die off as the soil dries. The bloom cycle may be repeated several times a year depending on the timing of rain storms.
-- from the Sierra Club Guide to the Southwest.

The Ocotillo (oh-koh-TEE-yo) is a NOTHIN'. You'll hear it called a "Monkey Tail Cactus" but it's not a cactus. And it's not a lily. It's not closely related to any other plant of the Southwest desert. South of California, in old Mexico, it has one kin, the Boogum Tree, which is an even stranger plant. These two belong to a scanty family which the botany boys (in desperation) named "Fouquieriaceae"-- whatever that means. To ordinary folks the Ocotillo has more aliases than a check artist. Besides "monkey tail" it is known as "candlewood", "coach whip", "Jacob's staff", etc.
-- from "What Kinda Cactus Izzat?" by Reg Manning

Ocotillo at Anza-Borrego -- beautiful pictures of the ocotillo plant at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park!
Ocotillo - Fouquieria splendens -- more big pictures of ocotillo!
DesertUSA Ocotillo -- great information about the ocotillo.
A BIG picture of an ocotillo

I hope you learned something interesting about the ocotillo! Sorry, I don't know much about growing these plants.

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Email: weirdclara99@hotmail.com