Photographs of Big Bend National Park

Keywords: Big Bend National Park, Texas, wildflowers, Chihuahuan Desert plants, red flowers

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Big Bend National Park > Cacti > Photographs

Flower of the ocotillo (fouquieria splendens), near the start of the Hot Springs Road

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For most of the year the ocotillo appears devoid of life, but its dry, woody, thorny stems sprout small green leaves in spring and after heavy rains, followed by a cluster of bright red flowers at the apex of each branch. The plant inhabits open, gravelly slopes, and is found all across the Southwest deserts from west Texas to southeast California.

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