a flowering stem with the desert in the background
Fourquieria splendens (Ocotillo) concept stamp art

Illustrator: Stanley Galli

The Ocotillo, a flowering plant indigenous to the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of the Southwest, is depicted in an orange desert environment with a yellow sky and a flowering stem. The final approved version continued this coloration with a yellow sky but with a more detailed and colorful desert background.

Courtesy United States Postal Service, Postmaster General's Collection