Saguaro Cactus - Arizona

 

SAGUARO

“Study Nature, Love Nature, stay close to Nature, it will never fail you”

Frank Lloyd Wright

The amazing Saguaro Cactus - Saguaro National Park East Unit
JDJ Photo

It is an amazing thing to live in a Country that has 50 States. Even though there were arbitrary boundaries drawn on maps, each State has a character, culture, history and geography that are unique to that State. You can further break the States down into smaller distinct units that are vastly dissimilar from each other and awe inspiring at the same time. The animals that live in these varied places and the vegetation that grows in each are fantastically varied and sometimes strange to a science fiction degree. There is no better or stranger example of this than Saguaro National Park in southern Arizona. This Park when established, set aside 92,000 acres in two units – the Tucson Mountain Unit and the East or

Cactus Blooms in Saguaro National Park - JDJ Photo

Rincon Mountain unit to preserve Sonoran Desert landscapes, flora and fauna but especially the gigantic and mysterious Saguaro Cactus. I have visited both units of this park several times and explored its trails all the while marveling at the different kinds of plants that grow there under the upstretched arms of the Saguaro. The Saguaro are truly unique plants. They only occur in the Sonoran Desert from the middle of Arizona down into the Mexican State of Sonora.  The Saguaro Cactus – pronounced “sah-WAH-row” is the most conspicuous and amazing plant found in the park and its battalions bristle across the land in what is sometimes referred to as the Cactus Forest. These gigantic plants can live up to 200 years old and tower over 50 feet tall. Saguaro flesh can consist of up to 85 percent water and large plants can weigh 8 tons or more. Lots of critters call these cacti home including the Gila Woodpecker, owls, wrens, mice, snakes and spiders. As they age, they grow more arms to increase photosynthesis but these plants grow at a very slow pace and typically don’t sprout and arm until they are 75 years old. The king of the Cactus may produce 40 million seeds over its lifespan but shockingly only 1 or 2 of these seeds will grow into large plants.  This is likely due to the harsh environment and multitudes of

 

These giant Saguaro Cacti don't grow arms until they are 75 years old!
JDJ Photo

creatures who feed on the seeds. While the Tucson Mountain unit is fascinating in its own right, I will focus here on the East or Rincon Mountain unit as that is my favorite landscape. The Cactus Forest of the Rincon Mountain unit occurs from 2,670 feet to 4,000 feet. As you can imagine, the summers here can be extremely hot and are characterized by blistering heat in the first part of the day that can develop into intense Monsoonal downpours in the afternoon as atmospheric moisture from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico heats up over the high terrain. These violent thunderstorms produce dust clouds, lightning and fill once dry washes with raging torrents of water that move millions of tons of sand and rock. Saguaros have a large root network that takes maximum advantage of these intense but infrequent storms. Their root network lies 3 inches below the soil and can branch out over 70 feet from the main plant. These roots have small hairs that all together can soak up over 200 gallons from a single storm. Water from one storm can last a Saguaro a whole year. These plants and the 50 other species of cacti found in the park have developed remarkable tolerance to heat through water retention, composition of skin, and prickly defenses against animal threats. Believe it or not, in winter, it typically snows at least

Prickly Pear - Saguaro National Park - JDJ Photo

once in the cactus forest. What a strange site that would be to see this landscape covered in a light blanket of snow. Freezing kills Saguaros and causes their arms to droop so it is a good thing that the cold does not last long. Winter storms usually consist of light steady rains that can persist for days at a time. You may notice numerous fist sized holes in the large cacti. These blights are not due to weather stress but are caused by the Gila Woodpecker and other birds who somehow avoid the quills and burro into the large cacti to make nests.  It was very hot when I visited this park and I consumed 2.5 liters of water on a few short hikes that I took on the Desert Ecology Trail, Riparian Overlook and Javalina Rocks. Had a good discussion with a US Park Service Ranger who told me about a strange animal that inhabits this area called a Coatimundi which is a dog sized relative of the raccoon. He also told me about a small jaguar type cat called the Ocelot. Super interesting to learn about animals I have never heard of before. On the Desert Ecology Trail, I couldn’t help but notice how good the desert smelled. Fresh clean air with the fragrance of many cacti blooms that filled the air with a dryer sheet type fragrance. It was so hot!! I followed the Cactus Forest Drive which is a 9-mile loop drive through the park. The Rincon Mountains dominate the area to the east and the highest point in the park is Mica Mountain at 8,666 feet. Mica mountain is what is referred to as a “sky island” in the desert because it is a somewhat isolated high point where the higher elevations of the peak are covered with dense stands of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir. There are over 100 miles of hiking trails in this park and it is possible to start in the Saguaros and hike up to the Fir passing through six different climate zones in the process. While the Saguaros are most impressive, there are all kinds of other plants in the Sonoran Desert including barrel cactus - which were sporting red and yellow blooms when I visited, sotol, agave, cholla, great bunches of prickly pear, creosote bush, ocotillo, and green bark Palo Verde trees. One thing most of these plants have in common is the ability to “bite” you with a sharp quill, barb, spear, or thorn and they need these defenses because this desert is full of all kinds of critters that want to either eat them or dig into them to create burros, dens or nests. Some of the numerous creatures that live here are javalina, roadrunners, Gila monsters, rattlesnakes, lizards, coyote, cougar, foxes, squirrels, bats, desert tortoise, toads, owls, mice and hawks. If you hike around in this area in daylight hours in the summer heat like I did, you will think that the entire area is void of any life as all the animals are hiding from the oppressive heat. Even the Saguaro cactus waits until night time to bloom in order to protect its blooms from the intense heat. When the sun sets, the desert comes to life and all the creepy crawlies and other animals come out. I hiked down from the riparian overlook to the bottom of the wash and was surprised to find a trickle of water running down the rocks and forming small pools until it disappeared into the sand again. There were patches of bright green grass and there were giant Saguaro all around, with the

  

Many foothills in the Sonora Desert in Arizona are covered, almost "peopled" with Saguaro Cactus forming a Cactus forest - JDJ Photo

Rincon Mountains looming over all to the east. I noticed ant trails everywhere that looked like little freeways from hive to hive. There were large ocotillo reaching for the sky and other pricklies that were un forgiving as I had shorts on. It was a very pleasant walk through the silent giants.  As I walked through the cactus forest it seemed as if each Saguaro had a soul and personality of its own. Later I discovered that according to the Arizona – Sonora Desert Museum, that the Saguaros were of central importance to the O’odham people who have lived in these deserts for centuries. The O’odham people

  

Palo Verde tree trunks and branches remind me of Aspens with the little distinction that they are Green! - JDJ Photo

have creation stories for this plant that relate the theme of people being turned into Saguaros. In the view of the O’odham, the Saguaro are not just plants but they are as Philip Brown put it “another form of humanity”. It was very interesting for me to learn of these traditions after I had the feeling that each Saguaro was a special being while walking through the Cactus Forest. There are so many wonderful, unique things in our Country to see and if you had to make a list of must see’s I would highly recommend that you put the Saguaro National Park high on your list. Both units of the park are very close to Tucson, Arizona.  

You can find more information about this place at the National Park Service Website:  Saguaro National Park (U.S. National Park Service)