Ocotillo
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| Ocotillo | ||||||||||||||
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| Missing image Fouquieria_splendens_above_Palm_Springs.jpg Ocotillo Ocotillos in the hills above Palm Springs, California | ||||||||||||||
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The ocotillo is a curious desert plant of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. For much of the year, the plant appears to be an arrangement of large dead sticks, although closer examination reveals that the stems are partly green. When rain comes, the plant quickly becomes lush with small (2-4 cm) ovate leaves, which may remain for weeks or even months.
The stems may reach a diameter of 5 cm at the base, and the plant may grow to a height of 10 m. The plant branches very heavily at its base, but above that the branches are pole-like and only infrequently divide further (specimens in cultivation may not exhibit any secondary branches at all). The leaf stalks harden into blunt spines, and new leaves sprout from the base of the spine. The bright red flowers appear in spring and summer, occurring as a group of small tube shapes at the tip of the stem.
Ocotillo poles are a common fencing material in their native region, and often take root to form a living fence.
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