''Fouquieria burragei,'' known commonly as the gulf ocotillo or pichilingue, is a species of perennial plant in the genus

Fouquieria ''Fouquieria'' is a genus of 11 species of desert plants, the sole genus in the Family (biology), family Fouquieriaceae. The genus includes the ocotillo (''Fouquieria splendens, F. splendens'') and the Boojum tree or cirio (''Fouquieria columnar ...

(referred to as ocotillos), native to the gulf coast of

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

. It is a shrub to small tree distinguished by its white to rose-red flowers, which are unique among the ocotillo species on the

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

. It is the only ocotillo endemic to the peninsula, and is threatened by

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

(particularly feral goats), tourism, coastal development and other human activities.

Description

This plant is a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

to small tree 3 to 7 meters in height. It consists of thin, thorny branches sprawling upwards from a central base, which gives the plant a fan-shaped appearance. The bright-green

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are small, oval and emerge in pairs alternating between the thorns. After rains, flowers begin to emerge. The inflorescence is variable, shaped elongate, narrow, and upright, and emerges from just above the base of older inflorescences. The distinctive flowers have a short, white to rose-red

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

, with numerous long, exerted stamens.

Taxonomy

The type specimen was collected from Pichilinque Island, and the species was described by Joseph Nelson Rose in 1911. It is very similar in vegetative form to '' Fouquieria diguettii'', but both are easily distinguished by ''F. burragei'''s white to pink flowers. ''F. burragei'' has a chromosome number of 2''n'' = 72, as opposed to 2''n'' = 48 for ''F. diguettii'', which may suggest that ''F. burragei'' is a possible hybrid species with ''F. diguettii'' and a now extinct white-flowered diploid species. Fouquieria_burragei_6288086

Distribution and habitat

This species is distributed from Bahía Concepción south to the vicinity of

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

and on Espiritu Santo Island in

. The populations of this plant are widely scattered, and gene flow between isolated populations is likely non-existent. It is found on rocky slopes with shallow sandy to volcanic clay soils, up to 200 meters in elevation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17241482 Flora of Baja California Sur Endemic flora of Mexico burragei Plants described in 1911 Taxa named by Joseph Nelson Rose