Boojum tree | |
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Boojum tree in Baja California desert, Cataviña region. | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Ericales |
Family: | Fouquieriaceae |
Genus: | Fouquieria |
Species: | F. columnaris
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Binomial name | |
Fouquieria columnaris | |
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Synonyms[1] | |
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Fouquieria columnaris, the Boojum tree or cirio (Latin American Spanish: [ˈsiɾjo]) is a tree in the ocotillo family, whose other members include the ocotillos. Some taxonomists place it in the separate genus Idria. It is nearly endemic to the Baja California Peninsula (both the northern and southern states), with only a small population in the Sierra Bacha of Sonora, Mexico. The plant's English name, Boojum, was given by Godfrey Sykes of the Desert Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona, and is taken from Lewis Carroll's poem "The Hunting of the Snark".[2][3][4]