The ocotillo is my favorite desert plant. It is dormant and looks dead most of the time. Until the rains come and then it leafs out profusely. And in the Spring it sets flowers from dry, gray branches.
This one was knocked down. It really looked dead for a long time, but now we have had rains. Some of the long branches survived, albeit horizontally. And new growth is sprouting from the stump. The quintessential desert plant.
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, USA.
Always Backroads 
A survivor !
Perfect for the desert.
Yes indeed !
You didn’t mention those wicked thorns….