The Desert's Fragile Giant

The Desert's Fragile Giant

Easy to anthropomorphize because they have "arms," saguaros are thought to be the descendants of tropical trees that lost their leaves and became dormant during drought. Carnegiea gigantea (the saguaro's scientific name) grows nowhere else on Earth other than the Sonoran Basin, an area that includes southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

Tourists are often amazed to find that these odd-looking plants actually bloom each May or June. Each bloom opens only for a few evening hours after sunset. The next afternoon, the creamy-white chalice closes forever. An adult saguaro produces six or seven flowers a day for about a month. They are cross-pollinated by bees, Mexican white-winged doves, and brown bats.

Because the saguaro stores massive quantities of water (enough to conceivably last two years), it's often called the "cactus camel." New saguaros are born when the seeds of the flower take root, an arduous process. Late freezes and even high heat can kill a seedling in its first days. Once a seed is established, it grows up under the protection of a "nurse" tree, such as a paloverde. Fully grown, a saguaro can weigh as much as 7 tons.

The saguaro, like many other wild plants, is protected by Arizona law. Without an Arizona Department of Agriculture permit, it's illegal to move a saguaro or sell one from private property.

Some say the saguaro has its own means of protecting itself from would-be poachers or vandals: in the early 1980s a hunter fired a shotgun at a large saguaro near Phoenix. It collapsed onto him, killing him instantly!