On Sunday, I noticed that the ocotillo in my parents’ front yard was bare at the base and full of leaves at the tips. I proceeded to take pictures and created the “Efficiency in Desert Plants” blog post.
Yesterday (Monday), on my way to school, I noticed that ocotillos in the desert were completely covered in green leaves. I immediately thought that I needed to take pictures of these to serve as controls against my hypothesis.
This morning, before my morning walk, I noticed the ocotillo across the street. It get sunlight ALL DAY and it looks just like the ocotillos in the desert I observed yesterday.
 neighbor 1 |
 neighbor 2 |
Scientific Study
- First there needs to be reading to see if an explanation can be found for this occurrence in ocotillos (not general information that says that plants bloom when they receive more sunlight)
- Field tests can then be done in the desert where ocotillos are observed in different places (in 100m x 100m areas) – an area is combed and only those of a certain height and taller are counted, then we’d get a ratio between those are that full of leaves and those that only have leaves in certain parts (as was seen in my parents’ ocotillo
I’m almost certain that they do not grown in the shade naturally. And the only reason that the one in my parents’ front yard exists is that it was planted there.
