Editing Boojum tree (section)

== Taxonomy ==
This species is most similar to two ''[[Fouquieria]]'' native to south-central Mexico, ''[[Fouquieria fasciculata]]'' and ''[[Fouquieria purpusii]]'', as they share a succulent xylem, widely spaced decurrent leaf bases, and small decandrous (ten-stamen) flowers. In the two species, they are initially woody, and their succulent xylem develops only in the lower portion of their main stem. In contrast, the Boojum tree has a succulent xylem from its initiation, with the primary thickening occurring from the meristem. The [[Ploidy|chromosome number]] of this species is ''n''=36.<ref name=":Henrickson" />

=== Taxonomic history ===
This species was first described by [[Albert Kellogg]] based on specimens that were collected by a J. A. Veatch in Baja California. The type description was published twice and nearly identically, in the ''Proceedings of the California Academy of Natural Sciences'' and the [[San Francisco]] monthly periodical ''Hesperian'' in May 1860. Because the exact date of the publication in the ''Proceedings'' is unknown, but is likely to be after 1862, the type description in the ''Hesperian'' has the priority. The holotype specimen was destroyed in the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906]].<ref name=":Henrickson" />

This species was previously placed in the [[Monotypic taxon|monotypic]] [[genus]] '''''Idria'''''. However, this taxonomic classification was created before the vegetative and floral structures of ''F. fasciculata'' and ''F. purpursii'' were understood, as these two species share intermediate characteristics between the genera ''Idria'' and ''Fouquieria''. As many other genera (''[[Pachypodium]]'', ''[[Euphorbia]]'', ''[[Jatropha]]'' and ''[[Coreopsis]]'') contain both [[Woody plant|woody]] and [[Succulent plant|succulent]] species, and because there are few diagnostic characteristics to separate major groups within the family, the genus ''Idria'' has been merged into ''Fouquieria''.<ref name=":Henrickson" />