''Fouquieria shrevei'' is a plant species native to the States of

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

and Durango states of northeastern Mexico. It is simply referred to as an ocotillo. It is endemic to some scattered gypsum outcroppings in the

Bolsón de Mapimí The Bolsón de Mapimí is an endorheic, or internal drainage, basin in which no rivers or streams drain to the sea, but rather toward the center of the basin, often terminating in Swamp, swamps and Ephemeral lake, ephemeral lakes. It is located in ...

, where the low rainfall, hot climate and gypseous soil work to create a restrictive environment. It has flowers with short, white corollas that distinguish it from the nearby ''

Fouquieria splendens ''Fouquieria splendens'' (commonly known as ocotillo (), but also referred to as buggywhip, coachwhip, candlewood, slimwood, desert coral, Jacob's staff, Jacob cactus, and vine cactus) is a plant indigenous to the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahua ...

''.

Description

''Fouquieria shrevei'' is a shrub up to tall, branching repeatedly near the base but hardly at all above. Leaves are ovate to oblanceolate, up to long and wide, with scarious (thin, dry and brown) margins. Flowers are white, born in short

racemes A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

in the axils of the leaves. The board leaves plus the axillary

of white flowers make this a distinctive and unusual member of the genus.

Etymology

Because this species occurs

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

with ''

'', the plant is not distinguished and is simply referred to as an "ocotillo" by the local people. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

is named after Forrest Shreve, a desert ecologist who accompanied I. M. Johnston when he discovered the species.

Distribution and habitat

It can be found in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin in

, approximately 50 km (about 31 miles) west of

Monclova Monclova (), is a city and the seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. According to the 2015 census, the city had 231,107 inhabitants. Its metropolitan area has 381,432 inhabitants and a ...

, at an elevation of about . There are several natural springs in the region, allowing an estimated 150 species of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

plants and animals to survive in this desert oasis. The species has also been reported from other sites in the same state plus one locale in the neighboring State of Durango.Encyclopedia of Life
/ref>

References

photo of herbarium specimen, collected in Coahuila in 2005
{{Taxonbar, from=Q16982102 shrevei Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of Coahuila Flora of Durango Cuatrociénegas Municipality