Growth Habits: Tree like plant growing up to 50 feet or more and weighing anything up to 8 tons or more, older plants grow side arms and can be over 150 years old.
Scientific name; Carnegiea gigantea
Common names: Saguaro.
Synonym: Cereus giganteus
Etymology: Carnegia For Andrew Carnegie, an American industrialist.
Gigantea, A Latin word, meaning giant.
Light: Full sun to light shade.
Compost. A free draining standard cactus mix.
Water: Regular water in spring to autumn.
Flower: A night blooming plant, flowers are white, 4 to 4.8 inches long (10-12 cm), 3.6 to 4.8 inches in diameter (9-12 cm).
Min temp: Adults are hardy to 14° F (-10°C), protect seedlings from frost.
Cultivation: Slow growing when young so can be kept as a pot plant for several years.
Habitat. Native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California, and an extremely small area of California.
Comments: Mainly pollinated by bats, primarily the Lesser Long-nosed Bat, feeding on the nectar from the night-blooming flowers, which often remain open in the morning.
Gila Woodpecker, Purple Martins, House Finches,Elf Owls, and Gilded Flicker live in holes inside saguaros.
Damaging Carnegiea gigantea is illegal by state law in Arizona, special permits must be obtained to move or destroy any saguaro.
Cactus plugging, the practice of vandalizing or destroying a saguaro, for fun is also illegal. one well documented case was in 1982, when David Grundman who was shooting at them got too close to one and shot the arm off, before he had time to run the four foot long arm fell on him killing him.
All images provided by Daiv Freeman.
Adult plant
Flower cluster
Flower close-up
