SAGUARO

also spelled Sahuaro (Cereus giganteus), large cactus, family Cactaceae, native to Mexico and Arizona and California in the United States. By authorities who split the genus Cereus into smaller genera, the name is Carnegiea gigantea. Ribbed and columnar when young, a saguaro usually develops five or six branches at a height of about 5 m (16 feet). Slow growing at firstit reaches only 2 cm (less than 1 inch) in height during its first 10 yearsit grows approximately 10 cm a year after attaining a height of 2 to 3 m. It blooms for the first time when it is 50 to 75 years old. Mature saguaros may reach 15 m 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 trunk and branches, remain open part of the next day. The red fruits are an important food of Indians, who also use the woody saguaro skeletons.