Fouquieria columnaris (the boojum tree) is a unique tree-like member of the ocotillo family.   It can grow to 20m.   Trunks can be up to 24 cm thick.   Branches stick out at right angles and they have small deciduous leaves.

 

It flowers in summer with small, creamy, sweet-smelling blossoms.

The name “boojum” was taken from Lewis Carrolls’s “Hunting of the Snark.”

Boojums grow in Baja California and in dry, rocky parts of the Sonoran Desert (mostly in Mexico).

Boojums are very slow-growing so taller specimens may be a century old.   We viewed these in the Tuscon Desert Museum and in the Boyce Thompson Aboretum.   When we head down to Baja, we will be looking for boojums in the wild.