| Common Name |
Saguaro |
| Latin Name |
Carnegiea gigantea |
| Family |
Cactaceae |
| Sunset zones / USDA zones |
11-13,18-21 / 9-10 |
| Type / Form |
Cactus / Large |
| Native Habitat |
Mojave and Sonoran Deserts between 500 and 3,500 feet |
| Soil |
Dry, decomposed granite, clay loam, well drained |
| Exposure |
Full sun, extremely cold marginal |
| Water |
None to once per month depending on soil,
water in late summer |
| Height X Width |
To 50 feet |
| Protective Mechanism |
Spines |
| Leaves |
Reduced to a spine, 2 inches, displayed
in vertical rows along the bark ridges, areole clusters of 10-25 spines. |
| Flowers |
Attractive, borne on the branch tips in rings, white with a yellow
center, 2 inches across, blooming at night during May and June,
persisting for less than 24 hours.
A cylindrical berry, 2-3
inches, green to red, splitting open when ripe (June and July) to
disperse the small (1/10 inch) black seeds; inner lining of the fruit
bright red. |
| Bark / Roots |
A green, leathery thick skin
with prominent vertical ridges; ridges are covered with spine clusters.
|
| Maintenance |
None |
| Propagation |
Seeds |
| Pests and Diseases |
Wood peckers |
| Landscape uses |
Rock garden, low maintenance, specimen |
| Garden Suitability |
Songbird, Butterfly, Ethnobotanical, Sonoran |
| Nature Value |
Nesting for songbirds, doves, lizards, trunk houses
woodpeckers and flickers, larval plant butterflies and yucca moths, food
for birds and bats |
| Native American Uses |
Fruit eaten, fermented |
| Links |
|
| Article |
http://www.desertusa.com/july96/du_saguaro.html |
| Images and data |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro |
| Images and data |
http://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/upload/the%20saguaro%20cactus.pdf |
| Images and data |
http://desertflower.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/carnegiea-gigantea-saguaro/ |
| Images and data |
http://www.desertmuseum.org/programs/alamos_succs_cargig.php |
| Images and data |
http://www.nazflora.org/carnegia_gigantea.htm |
| Images and data |
http://www.livingdesert.org/desert_plants_page.html?name=Saguaro |
| Images and data |
http://ag.arizona.edu/pima/gardening/aridplants/Carnegiea_gigantea.html |
| Images and data |
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Cactaceae/Carnegiea_gigantea.html |
| Images and data |
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/saguaro_cactus.htm |
| Images and data |
http://www.delange.org/Saguaro/Saguaro.htm |
| Images and data |
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60113/ |
| Images and data |
http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week346.shtml |
| Images and data |
http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/cagi7.htm |
| Images and data |
http://arboretum.arizona.edu/taxa/Carnegiea_gigantea.html |
| Images and data |
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=cagi10 |
| Images and data |
http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/339/carnegiea-gigantea-saguaro/ |
| Images and data |
http://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Carnegiea |
| Images and data |
http://www.tucsonbotanical.org/desertconnections/page-display-2.php?plantid=5 |
| Images and data |
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/Dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=604 |
| Data |
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?2702,2705,2706 |
| Data |
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/cactus/cargig/all.html |
| Data |
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242412565 |
| Nursery, images, and
data |
http://www.sbnursery.com/upright.php |
| Note: |
|
