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The saguaro, a huge, water-bearing
cactus, provides shelter and food for a
wide variety of animals in the Sonoran
Desert.
ARMS store water, produce
energy for the plant and provide
space for flowers on their tips.
BATS, insects (especially MOTHS), and
the WHITE-WINGED DOVE are primary
pollinators of saguaro flowers,
delighting in the nectar and pollen.
SPINES protect the cactus from
animals that want to eat it in addition
to insulating the stem and arm tips
from extreme temperatures.
FLOWERS bloom May to June,
producing pollen for reproduction
before developing as fruit. They
require cross-pollination. They are
open during the cool desert night and
close midday.
Saguaros are noted for commensalism, when a
plant benefits from a close relationship with
another unaffected plant, called their nurse
plant. The nurse plant provides shade and moist
habitat for the saguaro when it is first growing.
CREOSOTE are an example of a less common
nurse plant for saguaros.
©2013 Michaela Brumbaugh
Photograph and Illustrations by Michaela Brumbaugh
Sources: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum,
Desert USA, National Park Service
PLEATS allow the cactus to
swell and shrink as its water
intake changes.
FRUIT can produce up to
4000 seeds which contribute
to population growth,
animals eat them and spread
the seeds enveloped within.
When fruit falls to the ground,
ants, packrats, and kangaroo rats
eat the seeds. Desert tortoises,
coyotes, javelina, and mule deer
eat the fruit.
Lizards, Gila woodpeckers, gilded
flickers and other species car
holes for nests in the arms, called
SAGUARO BOOTS.
The STEM, or “trunk” of
a saguaro, stores water,
provides support, and
creates energy.
ROOTS take in water and
minerals while grounding the
cactus with a radial tap root.