02/09/2026
Ocotillos (Fouquieria splendens) are arguably one of our most iconic plant species in Arizona. Perhaps you have been here long enough to not know how bizarre the ocotillo is. Not only is its form totally unique, but even the family, the Fouquieriaceae, seems to have been dropped from outer space (yes there are a total of 11 species of which ocotillo is just one).
The life history of the ocotillo is also quite complex. This species has hedged its bets with several survival strategies: the ability to drop leaves upon any hint of drought (an ocotillo can grow and shed leaves several times a year), the ability for the plant to photosynthesize through the trunk when leaves drop, the ability to wake up from dormancy quickly and spread new roots when any moisture hits the ground, the arrangement of the stems that help the plant to shade itself...this plant is made to survive.
Many, many species depend on the ocotillo for food: nectar feeding insects like native bees, and butterflies, and hummingbirds depend on the dense spikes of reddish orange, tubular blooms that usually emerge in February in the low desert, or as late as May in the grassland and upper elevations, and can last a few months. In cultivation and in the upper elevations there is often a second flush of blooms in late summer or fall. Hummingbirds are extremely dependent on wild ocotillos as it is one of the only species that has a dependable and copious flush of blooms even in the driest years. The flowers are suited to favor the hummingbird, the primary pollinator, but some species cheat: carpenter bees and verdins will slit the base of the flower and steal nectar seemingly without pollinating the plant—actually, the carpenter bees DO pollinate the flowers by crawling about the inflorescence and in some places, like Texas, they are more primary to pollination of ocotillos than hummingbirds (hummingbirds do not migrate through those areas). The flowers are followed by seeds that are enjoyed by many seed-eating species of birds (like finches) and small mammals (like the antelope ground squirrel which also eats the flowers).
Plants can get to an eventual height of about 15-20’ tall, and about 8-10’ w
