Friday, July 20, 2012

Saguaro Cactus

One of the first things we saw when arriving in Phoenix was the Saguaro Cactus.


It is only found in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, a small area of California and the State of Sonora in Mexico.


Saguaros can grow up to almost 100 feet tall but are very slow growing.


The first side arm can take up 70 years to develop.


The average lifespan of a cactus is 200 years.


It has white night blooming flowers in April to June then red coloured fruit that matures in late June.


The Saguaro blossom is the State Wildfower of Arizona.


The red fruit is highly edible and prized by the locals.


It is truly a remarkable plant!


4 comments:

JanR said...

I never knew cacti could get so big! TFS

Avril Tanner said...

ohh... these are so cool and big!!!

Brenda in Kit said...

Love Sajuaro cactus....you know you're really in AZ when they begin to appear ...but, we 've never been there in the spring to ee them blooming (sniff!)

Deanna said...

Holy smokes, I though cactuses were little?