From Wiki­Collectables, Buy • Sell • Collect • Wiki

View the top articles!

The first time I encountered the ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), it was in a grouping of specimens, three rows of six each. The horticulturists at the University of Nevada Las Vegas had planted them in a rectangular section adjoining the walkway that lead to my office spaces. The specimens were part of the extensive xeriscaping used at the University. Each specimen had four or five “canes,” or elongated stems, that reached upwards to eight or ten feet.

[edit] Scientific classification

• Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
• Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
• Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
• Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
• Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
• Subclass: Asteridae
• Order: Solanales
• Family: Fouquieriaceae – Ocotillo family
• Genus: Fouquieria Kunth – ocotillo
• Species: Fouquieria splendens Engelm – ocotillo

[edit] Synopsis

During that first encounter, I was struck by the alien appearance of these plants, which are native to our southwestern deserts. They are a marvel of evolutionary adaptation to a harsh environment. If the Martian rovers had stumbled on any plant life, the ocotillo would have met my preconceived notion of life on the red planet. Each cane is greenish-black in color, and thick with thorns from top to bottom. Tiny ovate leaves sprout, after a good rain, interlacing themselves with the thorns. Small, tubular shaped red flowers sprout at the top of the cane. This plant is worth seeking out and examining closely. Photographs do not do it justice. And, if you are a collector of oddities, by all means cultivate one or more of these in your garden, as conversational pieces.

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, and specimens in cultivation may not exhibit any secondary branches. 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. They are pollinated by hummingbirds or carpenter bees.

Ocotillo poles are a common fencing material in their native region, and often take root to form a living fence. Owing to light weight and an interesting pattern, these have been used for canes or walking sticks.

Three subspecies are accepted by some botanists:

• Fouquieria splendens subsp. splendens
• Fouquieria splendens subsp. breviflora Henrickson
• Fouquieria splendens subsp. campanulata (Nash) Henrickson