DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Fouquieria splendens | Ocotillo 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Ocotillo is distributed from the southern tip of Nevada south through
the Mohave and Sonoran deserts of California to Arizona and east to the
Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico and western Texas [16,24,29,47,69].  In
Mexico, ocotillo occurs in Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, ,
Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Durango, and Sinaloa [21,69].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES30  Desert shrub
   FRES32  Texas savanna
   FRES33  Southwestern shrubsteppe
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES40  Desert grasslands


STATES : 
     AZ  CA  NV  NM  TX  MEXICO


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     AMIS  BIBE  CACA  CHIR  CORO  FOBO
     GRCA  GUMO  JOTR  LAME  ORPI  SAGU
     WHSA


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    7  Lower Basin and Range
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K027  Mesquite bosque
   K031  Oak - juniper woodlands
   K041  Creosotebush
   K042  Creosotebush - bursage
   K043  Paloverde - cactus shrub
   K044  Creosotebush - tarbush
   K045  Ceniza shrub
   K046  Desert: vegetation largely lacking
   K053  Grama - galleta steppe
   K054  Grama - tobosa prairie
   K058  Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe
   K059  Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
   K060  Mesquite savanna
   K061  Mesquite - acacia savanna
   K086  Juniper - oak savanna
   K087  Mesquite - oak savanna


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    66  Ashe juniper - redberry (Pinchot) juniper
    68  Mesquite
   235  Cottonwood - willow
   241  Western live oak
   242  Mesquite


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Ocotillo is a characteristic species of the vegetation of the Sonoran
and Chihuahuan deserts [8,23,25,38,49,57,64,66].  In the Sonoran Desert,
ocotillo is a dominant member of mixed woody, succulent scrub,
creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) scrub, and shrub-grassland associations
on well-drained rocky slopes, bajadas, and alluvial fans, often with
shallow soils [25,37,57,64,66,71].  Ocotillo is a dominant species in
desert scrub, lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla) scrub, and yucca (Yucca
spp.) woodland vegetation of the Chihuahuan Desert on rocky bajadas,
slopes, and ridges [8,23,37,40].

Ocotillo is also prominent in desert grassland and oak woodland habitats
at elevations above desert scrub vegetation [1,37,45], and in
subtropical thorn scrub or thorn forest communities [7,65,68].

Publications listing ocotillo as a dominant, codominant, or indicator
species in vegetation classifications follow:

Sonoran desertscrub [66]
Natural terrestrial communities of Brewster County, Texas, with special
  reference to the distribution of the mammals [13]
Vegetation and flora of Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Arizona [71]
A vegetation classification system applied to southern California [47]

Some species commonly associated with ocotillo not mentioned in
Distribution and Occurrence include saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea),
leatherstem (Jatropha spp.), jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), range ratany
(Krameria parvifolia), Wheeler sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri), brittle bush
(Encelia farinosa), lechuguilla, ironwood (Olneya tesota),
false-mesquite (Calliandra eriophylla), wolfberry (Lycium spp.), agave
(Agave spp.), yucca (Yucca spp.), acacia (Acacia spp.), prickly pear and
cholla (Opuntia spp.), threeawn (Aristida spp.), and grama (Bouteloua
spp.)  [5,6,9,23,30,37,45,57,68].

Ocotillo may also be associated with, or in close proximity to, riparian
habitats along rivers, floodplains, or desert washes.  In these
instances ocotillo may occur with narrowleaf cottonwood (Populus
angustifolia), Fremont cottonwood (P. fremontii), boxelder (Acer
negundo), Arizona walnut (Juglans major), honey mesquite (Prosopis
glandulosa), sycamore (Platanus spp.), oaks (Quercus spp.), and blue
paloverde (Cercidium floridum) [14,19,41,62].

Related categories for Species: Fouquieria splendens | Ocotillo