Saugaro National Park

The cold spell is well and gone and we are out exploring Arizona - something Jack and I love to do. Friday, January 18, after phoning and singing "Happy Birthday" to my sister Jacque in Michigan, we headed by car to Tucson - a two hour drive south of Mesa.

The giant saguaro cactus is the state symbolof Arizona and this area has one of the highest concentrations of these cacti. They grow only in the Sonoran desert  which takes in most of northern Mexico and a small part of south western Arizona and the far south of California and the Baja peninsula.

     

This saguaro points the way to the .25mile Nature Trail with many explanation boards about the life cycle of the saguaros and other desert plants.

 Saguaros often begin life in the protected area around another plant. Because they grow so slowly from seeds of the flowers that bloom in June at the top of the plant, being protected helps them survive the hot summers and monsoon rains that come periodically. This saguaro is probably 15 - 20 years old. They grow for about 75 years before they begin to put out arms. Some saguaros can have as many as 40 arms. When it rains, they swell their ribs with water to keep them alive until the next rain. Their life span is about 200 years. When they die, their strong woody ribs make good walking sticks.

       

Saguaro spines

Some saguaros have very interesting shapes!!!! While most "arms" grow upward, this giant' arms have made lovely graceful downward curves.