Saguaro Variations

The saguaro cactus - a symbol for deserts, inhabitant of the Sonoran desert. I took a number of pictures of them in the area around Tucson, AZ recently.

The first picture (above) is of a saguaro 'forest' on a rocky hillside. The pictures below are a reminder of the wildlife - particularly birds - that depend on the saguaro for food and homes. Note the way the plant tissue hardens/heals around the hole made by a woodpecker (right pcture below).

The pictures above show on unusual saguaro growing on the campus of the University of Arizona. It formed a very different structure at the top than the normal branches. There is a small branch near the base of the cactus (shown in the right picture) that looks more typical. In the pictures below, there is an atypcial saguaro on the left (unusual apex, holes where 'eyes' might be....think 'octo-saguaro'!) and a close up of the beginnings of a branch on a more typical saguaro.