saguaro
- Also spelled:
- sahuaro
saguaro, (Carnegiea gigantea), large cactus species (family Cactaceae), native to Mexico and to Arizona and California in the United States. The fruits are an important food of American Indians, who also use the woody saguaro skeletons. Ecologically, the plants provide protective nesting sites for many species of desert birds, and the flowers are an important source of nectar for pollinating birds, insects, and bats.
Ribbed and columnar, a saguaro usually develops five or six branches at a height of about 5 metres (16 feet). Slow growing at first—it reaches only 2 cm (less than 1 inch) in height during its first 10 years—it grows approximately 10 cm (4 inches) a year after attaining a height of 2 to 3 metres (about 6.5 to 10 feet). It blooms for the first time when it is 50 to 75 years old. Mature saguaros may reach 15 metres (almost 50 feet) in height. They may die at 150 to 200 years of age, most commonly by being uprooted by wind or washouts. The shallow wide-ranging roots, adapted to gathering moisture from a large area of desert, must sometimes support up to 9,000 kg (10 tons) of top growth. The white night-blooming flowers, on top of the trunk and branches, remain open part of the next day and produce red fleshy fruits.