General: Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) are unusual, but stately cactus-like plant with many erect, spiny stems that can grow to 20-feet tall. During most of the year, the stems are leafless. After rains, however, small green leaves quickly grow and cover the stems. Shortly thereafter, the plant will bloom with showy red, tubular flowers that grow on stalks from the tips of the stems. When the soil dries, the plants drop the leaves to conserve water, only to repeat the cycle when the next rains fall.

Ocotillo occur in lower-elevation rocky slopes in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone.

Family: Ocotillo (Fouquieriaceae).

Plant Form: Multiple stems, thin (1 inch thick), upright and slightly spreading.

Height: To 20 feet.

Stems: All main stems emerge from the ground.

Leaves: Small green leaves produced after rains, otherwise only spines.

Flowers: Red, tubular flowers on elongate stems that grow from the tips of the stems.

Seeds:

Habitat: Rocky bajadas and broad flats.

Distribution: Around Las Vegas, ocotillo occur along Lake Mohave near Laughlin and along Lake Mead near Pearce Ferry. They are more common farther south in Arizona and California. There is also isolated populations of ocotillo in southeastern Gold Butte National Monument near the Arizona border and in the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Elevation: Lower elevations.