Ocotillo
Plant Sciences Center of Sierra Vista, Arizona

 

PLANT PROFILE & SALVAGING INFORMATION

FOUQUIERIA SPENDENS Ocotillo

Family: Fouquieriaceae
Other common names: Coachwhip
Type: accent plant, succulent
Salvaged from locations: Hwy 90; Ft. Huachuca
Salvage method: bare root
Size: 15-20 ft H x 10-15 ft W
Water Usage: rainfall
Hardiness: 10 degrees F
Exposure: full sun
Flower color: red
Flower season: spring
Wildlife value: nectar, insects, hummingbirds, bees, orioles, 

  

Ocotillo in PSC holding beds

 

Did you know? Ocotillo is easily grown by seeds!

 

Ocotillo Fun Facts!

- during drought it sheds its leaves to conserve moisture
- after spring/summer rains it responds by leafing out, sometimes up to six or more times in a year
- clusters of tubular flowers are 1 inch long
- within 48 hours of a rain, will sprout leaves
- Stems covered with a thick water resistant cuticle
-most abundant on stony slopes above 3,300 ft on the upper edges of the deserts and adjacent hills.
- Boojum tree is in the Fouquieria genus - Boojum is named after The Hunting of the Snark, a story by Lewis Carroll.
- the ocotillo is one of the oddest and most conspicuous Arizona plants
- named after Pierra Fouquier, a French professor of medicine

 

 

The following are notes by the Plant Sciences Center Horticultural Technician on the salvage, care, and planting for Fouquieria spendens - Ocotillo.

Salvage Method:

    - bare root

Temporary Holding Method: 

- roots trimmed and sulfured and heeled into holding beds filled with sand in direct sun 

Pests & Diseases:

-  The ocotillos that did not leaf out after one year were discovered to been attacked by the ocotillo borer Chrysobothris edwardsi.

The borers generally go for live tissue under stress. It is also thought that ocotillo fences dead or alive would be attracters. The beetles fly from spring till end of summer and can overwinter either as eggs in the plant or as small larvae. All activity happens in the plant. The borer is about 1/2-3/4 inches long and is fast!

Systemics, as far as we know, do nothing as a prophylactic against woodborers. Systemics are designed to deal with insects that have piercing sucking mouthparts, ones that feed in the Phloem and Xylem tissues, not borers. 

The best time to salvage Ocotillo's is during fall and winter to avoid beetle activity.

Watering Schedule:

 - plants received no irrigation but rainfall.  Suggest that canes be misted canes 1-3X a day until plant leafs out.

Misc. Notes:

- large root mass, not in depth but in spread

- plants that leafed out by August 8th were tagged with blue tape, these plants were pulled for the BST project, September 29 and October 5, all ocotillo’s had new roots. Out of interest, ten of the ocotillo’s that had not leafed out were pulled out of the beds and none of them had new roots
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