Sunday, March 13, 2005
Oldest boojum tree in US is dying, to be cut down
The University of Arizona plans to remove a boojum tree (Fouquieria columnaris, Foqueriaceae)
from its arboretum after discovering that the tree is diseased and
dying. The tree failed to leaf out this year and the stem was seriously
decayed. The tree is not only the oldest boojum in the US, but the
largest in Arizona. Boojum is a strange stem-succulent tree of the Baja
California desert. The common name, given by its discoverer Godfrey
Sikes, is a joking reference to the boojum of Lewis Carroll's The
Hunting of the Snark.
Boojum is a bizarre plant, which barely meets the definition of a tree. It forms forests of scattered individuals in Baja California and adjacent Sonora. An interesting description with good pictures can be found at the Desert Ecology site. The University of Arizona has a good description if its specimens at its Arboretum site.
- Posted by Tom Kimmerer - 9:34:23 PM -
Boojum is a bizarre plant, which barely meets the definition of a tree. It forms forests of scattered individuals in Baja California and adjacent Sonora. An interesting description with good pictures can be found at the Desert Ecology site. The University of Arizona has a good description if its specimens at its Arboretum site.
- Posted by Tom Kimmerer - 9:34:23 PM -
