Ocotillo in Bloom

Ocotillo (ack-a-tee-yo) are inverted desert plants with woody, spiny, whip-like branches. They angle out from the base, In the fall and winter they look like this, bare and stripped, nary a leaf on them. Gloomy as the day in that photo.

But come spring, the leaves start to grow. They grow in pairs. about two inches long. The flower is the red tip at the top. Red flowers are 1/2 to 1 inch in length, with five short lobes curled back into 10-inch clusters. They appear at the ends of branches March through June or later, depending on rainfall.

They can bloom even without leaves on the branches. Ocotillo are very common and live up to 5000 feet.

What I find interesting about the ocotillo is that they are not completely filled out with leaves (to their maximum) when they bloom. They are certainly beautiful, enough so that I am going to have one planted in my yard in a couple of weeks!

But later in the summer, and during the monsoon, they will really fill out and the leaves will get very thick. There won't be any flowers on them then, but they will be just as gorgeous. I don't think there's anyone around here that just doesn't love an ocotillo!