Saguaro - A cactus with personality is a photograph by Alexandra Till which was uploaded on July 28th, 2013.
Title
Saguaro - A cactus with personality
Artist
Alexandra Till
Medium
Photograph - Photographs - Prints - Digital Images - Cards - Posters - Photo-calendars - Photo Art
Description
© Christine Till
The Saguaro (sometimes spelled sahuaro and pronounced sah-wah-roh) has been described as the monarch of the Sonoran Desert, as a prickly horror, as the supreme symbol of the American Southwest, and as a plant with personality. It is renowned for the variety of odd, all too human shapes it assumes, shapes that inspire wild and fanciful imaginings. Giant saguaro cacti, unique to the Sonoran Desert, sometimes reach a height of 50 feet in this cactus forest, which covers the valley floor, rising into the Rincon and West Tucson mountains.
On average and under the natural conditions existing just west of Tucson, Arizona with 10 inches of rainfall annually, a Saguaro cactus often weighs less than an aspirin at age five and it may take about 10 years to get just an inch and a half tall, about the size of your thumb! Under these natural conditions it may take 20 years to almost attain one foot in height and 30 years to reach two feet tall, but by age 40 the Saguaro cactus may be up to four feet tall, by age 50 up to seven feet tall, by 75 up to 16 feet, and by age 100 almost 25 feet tall. Throughout its range and depending upon soil and rainfall, Saguaro cacti first bloom between 40 and 75 (average 55) years old, usually start to grow arms when they are between 50 to 100 years of age (average 70), and a Saguaro may live for perhaps 200 years or more (no one knows for sure).
The next time you pause to admire one of these giant sentinels in the desert, wish it luck for a long life; it may need it.
Uploaded
July 28th, 2013
