ocotillo

American  

[oh-kuh-teel-yoh, aw-kaw-tee-yaw] / ˌoʊ kəˈtil yoʊ, ˌɔ kɔˈti yɔ /

noun

plural

ocotillos

1. a spiny, woody shrub, Fouqueria splendens, of arid regions of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, having a tight cluster of red flowers at the tip of each branch.

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ocotillo British  

/ ˌəʊkəˈtiːljəʊ /

noun

1. a cactus-like tree, Fouquieria splendens, of Mexico and the southwestern US, with scarlet tubular flowers: used for hedges and candlewood: family Fouquieriaceae

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Etymology

Origin of ocotillo

1855–60, < Mexican Spanish, diminutive of ocote kind of pine < Nahuatl ocotl

Example Sentences

Alvaro Enciso and a group of volunteers walking through an ocotillo forest.

From Salon • Oct. 4, 2024

When ocotillo are too gravely ill to flower, there’s no nectar for hummingbirds migrating north from Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 17, 2023

We walked over, and, indeed, another rat appeared to have built a home into the base of an ocotillo.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2021

A few foot paths snaked into the hills on the American side staked with spiky ocotillo cactus.

From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2019

Here, on a low, sun-scorched rise dotted with chollas and indigobushes and twelve-foot ocotillo stems, McCandless slept on the sand under a tarp hung from a creosote branch.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer