Saguaro (sah-WAH-row) National Park is divided into two sections, the Rincon Mountain District (Saguaro East) and the Tucson Mountain Mountain District (Saguaro West). Most of these pictures are from Saguaro West which is about 15 miles west of Tucson, AZ.
I always pictured the cactus as having 2 "arms", when in reality, in maturity, they can have many arms.
In front of this Saguaro is the willowy Ocotilla cactus which was blooming while we were there. It has long branches with bright red flowers on the tips. There are thorns about 1 inch long on the branches. Leaves appear after a rain, usually within 36 hours. This picture is at Saguaro East. The yellow bush is a creosote bush that was blooming in profusion.
Saguaro branches always grow upward. Occasionally frost or snow will freeze the tissue at the base of a limb and damage it, and the weight of the branch pulls it down.
Look! That's Flat Stanley standing in front of a young Saguaro. The Saguaro grows very slowly. It is only 1/4" tall at one year of age. This cactus, about 1 foot tall, is probably 15 years old! Saguaros must start life under a tree or shrub to protect them from drying out and be hidden from herbivores. Saguaros often outlive their "nurse" plants.
If these damaged branches survive, the growing tip will turn upward again. Saguaro tissue may be 85% water; a large plant may weight 8 tons or more!
Why grow arms? More arms equal more surface area for photosynthesis, and more places to grow flowers, thus increasing the number of seeds produced. In its lifetime it may produce 40 million seeds. Dispersal, rainfall, and other factors result in about ONE of these seeds living to maturity to replace the parent plant.
Saguaro grow slowly. In the most favorable conditions it may take 35 years for a plant to reach 6 feet; more commonly it takes 47 to 67 years. They don't usually grow branches until they are 70 years old and can live to 150-200 years old.
Saguaros can grow to 50 feet tall and are the largest member of the cactus family in the United States. The fruiting of the Saguaro signals the beginning of the Tohono O'odham (Native Americans of this area) new year. Families camp in the desert and collect the fruit for jam, jelly, candy, and a ceremonial wine used to bring on the summer rains.
The prickly pear cactus was just starting to bloom.
to provide roofing for their lean-tos as wood is non existent in the Sonora Desert.
While keeping an eye open for rattlesnakes, this was the only desert creature we saw. He was about 5 inches long.
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