Scientific Name: Fouquieria splendens
Alternate Common Names: Candlewood, Coachwhip, Devil’s Walking Stick, Albarda, Ocotillo de Corral
Family: Fouquieriaceae
Native Range: western Texas and southern New Mexico west to extreme southeastern California and extreme southern Nevada south to central Mexico
Attracts: hummingbirds, songbirds, bees, butterflies
Plant Type: woody shrub
Flower Colors: red
Bloom period: Jan-June, depending on temperature
Mature Size (w x h): up to 20′ (6 m)
Hardiness: -10°F/-12°C
Water Needs: very low
Light: full sun

The Ocotillo, “little torch” in Spanish, is an icon of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts. The wickedly spiny stems are bare most of the year, producing up to six crops of leaves annually in response to rain and shedding them during dry spells. The scarlet tubular flowers attract hummingbirds, orioles, carpenter bees, and other pollinators. Fouquieria is the only genus in its family and includes several densely branching “tree ocotillos” and the bizarre cone-shaped Boojum of Baja California.