Alternate name: Saguaro
Family: Cactaceae, Cactus view all from this family
Description Giant, leafless, columnar tree cactus with massive, spiny trunk and usually 2-10 stout, nearly erect, spiny branches.
Height: 20-35' (6-10.7 m).
Diameter: 1-2" (0.3-0.6 m), sometimes larger.Trunk and branches: cylindrical, yellow-green, smooth, with fleshy, vertical ridges, bearing clusters of spreading, sharp, gray spines 1/2-2" (1.2-5 cm) long.
Wood: a framework of vertical light brown, lightweight ribs around thick, whitish, succulent, bitter pith. Ribs exposed as a skeleton after death.
Flowers: 4-4 1/2" (10-11 cm) long, 2-3" (5-7.5 cm) wide; funnel-shaped, with many waxy, white petals and stamens at end of greenish, fleshy tube; stalkless; numerous, near tops of branches from cluster of spines; with odor of melon; in late spring, sometimes again in late summer.
Fruit: 2-3 1/2" (5-9 cm) long; egg-shaped berry, spineless, red, fleshy, sweet and edible; splitting open along 3 or 4 lines and resembling flowers; maturing in early summer; many rounded, shiny brown, tiny seeds.
Flower Late spring; sometimes also in late summer.
Habitat Rocky or gravelly soils of desert foothills, especially on south-facing slopes; often with paloverdes.
Range Arizona south to Sonora, Mexico; very local in se. California; at 700-3500' (213-1067 m).
Discussion Native Americans made use of the entire cactus: they ate the fruit both fresh and dried and made it into preserves and beverages; the framework of ribs provided wood for shelters, fences, and kindling. Giant Saguaro (pronounced "sah-WAH-ro"), the largest native cactus, is the state flower of Arizona and a symbol of desert landscapes. Well-adapted to its hot, dry climate, Giant Saguaro is leafless. Food is manufactured in the green stems, and rainwater is absorbed quickly by the shallow roots and stored in the succulent trunks and branches. The thick, spreading spines offer protection against animals. Gila woodpeckers and gilded flickers make round holes near the tops of branches for nests that are used afterwards by elf owls, cactus wrens, and other birds. Wildlife, especially white-winged doves, consume quantities of the seeds.
