Carnegiea gigantea (Saguaro)

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Carnegiea gigantea (Engelm.) Britton & Rose

Saguaro, giant saguaro

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Caryophyllidae	Cacti, many other succulents, carnivorous plants, and leadworts
Order	Caryophyllales	Includes cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, and many carnivorous plants
Family	Cactaceae	Succulent (water-storing) plants, often spiny
Genus	Carnegiea	Named for the Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)
Species	gigantea	“Gigantic”

About plant names...

There is nothing like a saguaro. (Well, almost nothing. It looks fairly similar to cardón, an example of convergent evolution, wherein unrelated species sometimes evolve identical forms to adapt to similar habitats in different locations.) These tall, long-lived cacti (up to 150 years) are iconic of the American southwest. In fact, though, this is more due to moviemakers than to actual geographic distribution. Saguaros are found only in the Sonoran Desert—Arizona, a tiny part of California, and the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora. Sometimes a single column, sometimes branched, they serve as condominiums for birds and a few small mammals. Saguaros are on the decline now, increasingly protected.

These plants have always struck me as precariously top-heavy in appearance, with their relatively narrow, often dried looking bases and heavy, water-filled arms. But they possess a very strong support framework that persists, like an eerie skeleton, long after the cactus dies.

Identification: Saguaros reach 50′ (15 m) in height and up to 2′ (60 cm) in diameter, growing slowly. They remain a single column until they are about 75 years old, when they usually develop branches. Their size and shape are unmistakable. Flowers are white with yellow centers, about 3-4″ (7.6-10 cm) around.

Edibility: Saguaro fruits and seeds are moderately digestible, and served as a major food source for the Papago and Pima Indians.

Online References:

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Sonoran Desert Digital Library

Southeastern Arizona Wildflowers and the Plants of the Sonoran Desert

The USDA Forest Service's Fire Effects Information Database

SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network