Let me give you another clue. What can live to be 200 years old? A tortoise? No, that’s not it, either. Here’s the best clue. What is green, prickly and grows in a desert? If you guessed a cactus, you’re right. But it is not just any cactus. It’s a Saguaro (Sah-WAH-row) Cactus.

If you ever travel in the southwestern United States, specifically in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona or Southeastern California, chances are you’ll see a Saguaro Cactus.

It’s almost a sure thing that when you see your first Saguaro Cactus you will have the

urge to take a picture of it. In fact, that urge will continue until you’ve photographed at least ten of them. Like snowflakes, each Saguaro is unique. If you watch one for awhile, it almost takes on a human quality … like it’s trying to tell you something. Its large arms may seem to be pointing, waving or shrugging.

A Saguaro begins life as a seedling that looks like a yellow-green fortune cookie. If it grows beneath the shade of a “nurse tree” like a Palo Verde, the fragile seedling stays moist and is protected from the intense summer heat and winter winds.

The Saguaro grows slowly, about an inch a year. But since this cactus can live up to two hundred years, it can grow an average of eighteen to thirty feet. That’s taller than an adult giraffe! The tallest Saguaro ever recorded was 78 feet tall!

Arms on the Saguaro don’t begin growing until the cactus is about 65 years old. Then these plants really begin to take on a “human-like” quality. As the arms grow, they add more weight to the Saguaro. Since this cactus can absorb great amounts of water during a rainy period, it may weigh as much as eighty pounds per foot. That means that a full grown Saguaro can weigh as much as an elephant!

A Saguaro has a bright green outer layer that feels like a smooth rubber ball but watch

out! That skin also holds hundreds of long needle-like spines. These spines act as

protection from desert animals, such as jack rabbits, that may gnaw at them.

But not all animals stay away from the Saguaro. Gilded Flickers and Gila

Woodpeckers peck shallow holes in the trunk of the cactus and use the opening as a nest.

When the birds later abandon the nest, the space is often taken over by bats, owls or

lizards. Older Saguaros may look like an apartment building because of all the

“windows” or holes! In late spring, birds, bats and insects are attracted to the Saguaro’s

flowers. The blooms, which form at the end of the branches, open in the cooler evenings

and close up during the heat of midday.

As a Saguaro matures, natural happenings can shorten its lifespan. Lightning storms,

fires or strong winds can cause damage. People may destroy them to build homes. But if

a Saguaro is allowed to die naturally, its outer layers slowly shed, leaving a woody

framework. Indians of long ago used the material to build their homes.

What majestic plant is unique to the desert in the southwestern United States? What

plant can weigh as much as an elephant and be taller than a giraffe? And what plant, that looks like a giant pickle, can be a home to many desert animals? That’s right!

The Saguaro!