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Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Ocotillo

Fouquieria splendens
native · Central Texas

Ocotillo is a shrub native to Central Texas that grows 6–20 ft tall and 5 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles caliche soil. Flowers are red. Good for bees, birds, hummingbirds, nectar insects and small mammals.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

4 sources
Type
Shrub
Sun
Full sun to part shade (3–6 hrs of direct sun)
Water
Low
Height
6–20 ft
Spread
5 ft
Bloom
Red
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes caliche · recorded on dry, gravelly, limestone, rocky, sand
Wildlife
Supports bees, birds, hummingbirds, nectar insects and small mammals

Where it grows

No Level IV record in the launch area yet. Recorded in these Texas ecoregions:

Chihuahuan Desert

3 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.