Boojum tree
Encyclopedia
Fouquieria columnaris, the Boojum tree or (Spanish) cirio (syn. Idria columnaris) is a tree
in the family Fouquieria
ceae, whose other members include the ocotillo
s. It is nearly endemic
to the Baja California Peninsula
, 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
".
name for this plant is cototaj ˈkototax. In Seri belief, touching this plant will cause strong winds to blow (an undesirable state). Given this belief, the hypothesis that the Seri people transplanted it is doubtful.
1.5–4 cm long. They can grow to a height of 20 m. The flower
s bloom in summer and autumn; they occur in short raceme
s, and are creamy yellow with a honey scent.
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
in the family Fouquieria
Fouquieria
Fouquieria is a genus of 11 species of desert plants, the sole genus in the family Fouquieriaceae. The genus includes the ocotillo and the boojum tree or cirio . They have semi-succulent stems with thinner spikes projecting from them, with leaves on the bases spikes...
ceae, whose other members include the ocotillo
Ocotillo
Fouquieria splendens Engelm. is a desert plant of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Common names include ocotillo, desert coral, coachwhip, Jacob's staff, and vine cactus, although it is not a true cactus...
s. It is nearly endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
to the Baja California Peninsula
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
, with only a small population in the Sierra Bacha of Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The plant's English name, Boojum, was given by Godfrey Sykes of the Desert Laboratory
Desert Laboratory
The Desert Laboratory at 1675 West Anklam Road, Tucson, Arizona was founded by the Carnegie Institution in 1903 to better understand how plants adapted to arid desert environments. Numerous long term ecological experiments were created on the around Tumamoc Hill...
in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
and is taken from Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's poem "The Hunting of the Snark
The Hunting of the Snark
The Hunting of the Snark is usually thought of as a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll in 1874, when he was 42 years old...
".
Distribution
The peculiar distribution pattern of the mainland boojums has led Mexican botanists to conclude that they were probably transplanted to the mainland by the indigenous Seri people, who lived in this area and still live on communal property south of this location. The SeriSeri language
Seri is a language isolate spoken by the Seri people by between 716 and 900 people in two villages on the coast of Sonora, Mexico.-Classification:...
name for this plant is cototaj ˈkototax. In Seri belief, touching this plant will cause strong winds to blow (an undesirable state). Given this belief, the hypothesis that the Seri people transplanted it is doubtful.
Description
The Fouquieria columnaris trunk is up to 24 cm thick, with branches sticking out at right angles, all covered with small leavesLeaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
1.5–4 cm long. They can grow to a height of 20 m. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s bloom in summer and autumn; they occur in short raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
s, and are creamy yellow with a honey scent.