View photos of the medicinal plant Fouquieria splendens (Ocotillo), profiled in Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest.

A passage from Medicinal Plants of the American Southwest:

Ocotillo tends to be a mild expectorant. It increases bronchial secretion somewhat, making thickened phlegm easier to dislodge. The plant is also sedating to a dry and spasmodic cough. Both of these activities make Ocotillo useful in wintertime lung afflictions.