Carnegia gigantea

saguaro
Photo for species Carnegia gigantea
Did you know?: 

Saguaro is the largest of the columnar cacti found in the United States.

Photo Credit: 
© USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database.
What does this species look like?

Saguaro is large, spiny, stem succulent growing up to 52 feet tall or more, acquiring branches with age. Its showy, white and yellow flowers have both male and female parts, and are insect- and animal-pollinated. Flowering begins when the plant becomes mature at about 7 feet tall.

Saguaro is found in the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern U.S., from the valley bottoms and up on steep, rocky, slopes. It is found on shallow soils that are light, coarse-textured, and rocky. It is intolerant of cold.

Why observe this species?

Saguaro is a USA-NPN regional plant species. Regional species are ecologically or economically important but are distributed more locally than calibration species. The NPN integrates these observations to understand better plant responses within the different geographic regions of the nation.

Where is this species found?
U.S. States: 
AZ, CA
Which phenophases should I observe?
Flowers

Do you see...?

Flowers or flower buds
One or more fresh open or unopened flowers or flower buds are visible on the plant. Include flower buds that are still developing, but do not include wilted or dried flowers.

How many flowers and flower buds are present? For species in which individual flowers are clustered in flower heads, spikes or catkins (inflorescences), simply estimate the number of flower heads, spikes or catkins and not the number of individual flowers.

Less than 3

3 to 10

11 to 100

101 to 1,000

More than 1,000

More...

Open flowers
One or more open, fresh flowers are visible on the plant. Flowers are considered "open" when the reproductive parts (male stamens or female pistils) are visible between or within unfolded or open flower parts (petals, floral tubes or sepals). Do not include wilted or dried flowers.

What percentage of all fresh flowers (buds plus unopened plus open) on the plant are open? For species in which individual flowers are clustered in flower heads, spikes or catkins (inflorescences), estimate the percentage of all individual flowers that are open.

Less than 5%

5-24%

25-49%

50-74%

75-94%

95% or more

More...

Fruits

Do you see...?

Fruits
One or more fruits are visible on the plant. For Carnegia gigantea, the fruit is a fleshy, juicy, very large berry that changes from green to yellow-green, reddish-green or red and splits open to expose red pulp filled with seeds. Do not include empty fruits that no longer have any red pulp or seeds.

How many fruits are present?

Less than 3

3 to 10

11 to 100

101 to 1,000

More than 1,000

More...

Ripe fruits
One or more ripe fruits are visible on the plant. For Carnegia gigantea, a fruit is considered ripe when it has turned yellow-green, reddish-green or red and has split open to expose red pulp filled with seeds. Do not include empty fruits that no longer have any red pulp or seeds.

What percentage of all fruits (unripe plus ripe) on the plant are ripe?

Less than 5%

5-24%

25-49%

50-74%

75-94%

95% or more

More...

Recent fruit or seed drop
One or more mature fruits or seeds have dropped or been removed from the plant since your last visit. Do not include obviously immature fruits that have dropped before ripening, such as in a heavy rain or wind, or empty fruits that had long ago dropped all of their seeds but remained on the plant.

How many mature fruits have dropped seeds or have completely dropped or been removed from the plant since your last visit?

Less than 3

3 to 10

11 to 100

101 to 1,000

More than 1,000

More...