| Ocotillo | |
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Joshua Tree National Park straddles the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, putting an unusual variety of plants within its boundaries. The ocotillo ("oh-co-TEE-yo"), a Sonoran Desert species, is a creature of the bajada, the apron of rocky debris that surrounds so many desert ranges. The park is near the western extreme of its range, but the Ocotillo Patch is a fine stand of these distinctive plants.
For most of the year, Fouquieria splendens is a bunch of bare woody sticks, protected by thorns. But when it rains, the ocotillo sends out thousands of small leaves and quickly blooms with brilliant red-orange blossoms at its tips. Once the ground dries out the leaves die back.
(c) Copyright 2002 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com, Inc.
