Ocotillo

Lurid tones erupt from steely grey revealing the life within.  Ocotillo (o-ka-tee-yo) are perhaps one of the most well-adapted plants to life in the Sonoran Desert.  During dry periods, they lose their leaves and become a collection of seemingly dead, thorny sticks.  A waxy inner-bark conserves water until rains arrive.  But the first hint of rain or high humidity causes the ocotillo to erupt with leaves, new woody growth, and flowers.  This is the growing bud of one of the plant's limbs.  The thorn in the background was formed from the central stem of one of last season's leaves.