fouquieria

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Ocotillo-400px.jpg

|image_caption = Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)

|parent_authority = DC.{{Cite journal |last=Angiosperm Phylogeny Group |year=2009 |title=An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=161 |issue=2 |pages=105–121 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x |doi-access=free |hdl=10654/18083 |hdl-access=free }}

|taxon = Fouquieria

|authority = Kunth{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?4742 |title=Genus: Fouquieria Kunth |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network: Fouquieria |date=1996-09-17 |access-date=2011-04-30}}

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = See text

|synonyms =

  • Bronnia {{au|Kunth}}
  • Idria {{au|Kellogg}}
  • Philetaeria {{au|Liebm.}}

|type_species = Fouquieria formosa

}}

Fouquieria is a genus of 11 species of desert flowering plants, the sole genus in the family Fouquieriaceae. The genus is native to North America and includes the ocotillo (F. splendens) and the Boojum tree or cirio (F. columnaris). They have semi succulent stems with thinner spikes projecting from them, with leaves on the bases of the spikes. They are unrelated to cacti and do not look much like them; their stems are proportionately thinner than cactus stems and their leaves are larger.

Taxonomy

= Taxonomic history =

Fouquieria species do not have a particularly close resemblance to any other sort of plants; genetic evidence has shown they belong in the Ericales. Before this, they had been variously placed in the Violales or their own order, Fouquieriales.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

The Seri people identify three species of Fouquieria in their area of Mexico: jomjéeziz or xomjéeziz (F. splendens), jomjéeziz caacöl (F. diguetii, Baja California tree ocotillo), and cototaj (F. columnaris, boojum).{{cite book|last=Felger|first=Richard S.|url=https://archive.org/details/peopleofdesertse0000felg|title=People of the Desert and Sea: Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians|author2=Mary B. Moser|publisher=University of Arizona Press|year=1985|isbn=978-0-8165-0818-1|location=Tucson|url-access=registration}}

= Etymology =

The genus is named after French physician Pierre Fouquier (1776-1850).

Ecology

Fouquieria shrevei is endemic to the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin in Mexico, and is unusual in possessing vertical resinous wax bands on the stems, and exhibits gypsophily, the ability to grow on soils with a high concentration of gypsum. It has aromatic white flowers and is presumed to be moth-pollinated. Other species in the genus with orange or red flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds or carpenter bees. Fouquieria diguetii is host to a peacock mite, Tuckerella eloisae.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

The spines of Fouquieria develop in an unusual way, from a woody thickening on the outer (lower) side of the leaf petiole, which remains after the leaf blade and most of the petiole separate and fall from the plant.W. J. Robinson, 1904. The spines of Fouquieria. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 31(1):45–50

Distribution and habitat

These plants are native to northern Mexico and the bordering US states of Arizona, southern California, New Mexico, and parts of southwestern Texas, favoring low, arid hillsides.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

Species

{{As of|2025|March}}, the following species are accepted:{{cite web | title=Plants of the World Online | website=Plants of the World Online | url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:38971-1 | access-date=2025-03-26}}

class="wikitable"
ImageScientific nameDistribution
120pxFouquieria burragei Rose – gulf ocotillo{{Cite journal|last1=Rebman|first1=J. P.|last2=Gibson|first2=J.|last3=Rich|first3=K.|date=2016|title=Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico|url=http://sdplantatlas.org/pdffiles/BajaChecklist2016.pdf|journal=San Diego Society of Natural History|volume=45|pages=174}}Mexico (E. Baja California Sur)
120pxFouquieria columnaris (Kellogg) Kellogg ex Curran – boojum treeMexico (C. Baja California, NW. Sonora)
120pxFouquieria diguetii (Tiegh.) I.M.Johnst. – Adam's treeMexico (Baja California, CW. Sonora)
120pxFouquieria fasciculata NashMexico (S. Hidalgo)
120pxFouquieria formosa KunthMexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Puebla, Morelos, Michoacán, México State, Distrito Federal, Jalisco)
Fouquieria leonilae MirandaMexico (C. Guerrero)
120pxFouquieria macdougallii NashMexico (Sonora, Sinaloa, W. Chihuahua)
120pxFouquieria ochoterenae MirandaMexico (SW. Puebla, NW. Oaxaca)
Fouquieria purpusii BrandegeeMexico (S. Puebla, N. Oaxaca)
120pxFouquieria shrevei I.M.Johnst.Mexico (W. Coahuila)
120pxFouquieria splendens Engelm. – ocotillo{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?4742GRIN |title=Species Records of Fouquieria |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network: Fouquieria |access-date=2011-04-30}}United States (southern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas), and northern Mexico (as far south as Hidalgo and Guerrero).

References

{{Reflist}}

  • {{cite book |last=Moser |first=Mary B. |author2=Stephen A. Marlett |title=Comcáac quih yaza quih hant ihíip hac: Diccionario seri-español-inglés |url=http://lengamer.org/admin/language_folders/seri/user_uploaded_files/links/File/DiccionarioSeri2005.pdf |year=2005 |publisher=Universidad de Sonora and Plaza y Valdés Editores |location=Hermosillo, Sonora |language=es, en}}