About Fremontodendron mexicanum Davidson
Fremontodendron mexicanum is an erect, flowering shrub or multi-trunked small tree. It reaches 1.8 to 4.6 meters (6 to 15 feet) in height, with branches that spread out to 3.0 meters (10 feet) wide. Its leaves are leathery, furry, and olive green, growing up to 5 centimeters long and divided into several wide lobes. Solitary flowers, each roughly 6 centimeters wide, grow spread out along the branches. These showy flowers consist of five bright orange sepals and do not have true petals.
This species is currently known from only around ten total occurrences in northern Baja California, Mexico, and the adjacent southern portion of San Diego County, California, United States. It has only been recently confirmed to still exist in two of these locales. As of 1993, fewer than 100 individual plants were thought to exist, and it is a federally listed endangered species in the United States.
This shrub typically grows on alluvial plains, within the California montane chaparral and woodlands and temperate coniferous forest habitat types, growing alongside Tecate cypress (Cupressus forbesii) trees.
Fremontodendron mexicanum is cultivated as an ornamental plant by specialty nurseries. It is planted in native plant gardens, drought-tolerant gardens, and wildlife gardens, as well as used in natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects. Established cultivated plants require good drainage and do not need any supplemental summer water.
