The ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) is a desert plant. It looks like very long spindly sticks radiating upward from a base. The sticks are lined with thorns. The branches are sometimes bound together into mats and used to make fences that will keep critters like coyotes out of the yard. Sometimes they will take root and grow leaves, and become a living fence. The plant is drought-deciduous. It drops its leaves when there is no rain. To keep an ocotillo in leaf, it can be misted with water regularly, but this tends to weaken the plant. The bark of the branches is used for female troubles. I like to harvest the blossoms and fill a gallon jar with them, and put water in, and leave it in the refrigerator for 18 hours. It makes a very delicate punch. The blossoms can also be sucked on like honeysuckle. Hummingbirds like the flowers. © Pat Goltz Thank you for your comments. I greatly appreciate them!