Agave macroacantha, the Black-Spined Agave is a very distinctive small to medium-sized agave with leaf rosettes that grow on very short stems. I love agaves and have many in my personal collection. I also have some old man cacti – they’re potted up and growing in my greenhouse. As an outdoor plant, these can grow to 45-feet tall, but are generally slow growing as potted specimens. The long hair is used to keep itself cool in its natural habitat. It has fluffy white tufts of hair over the surface of the cactus body. This is Cephalocereus senilis, or Old Man Cactus. Some speculate it is some kind of a genetic mutation, while others say it is the result of a lightning strike or freeze damage.Īlong with the saguaro, the Stenocereus thurberi, Organ Pipe Cactus, is one of Arizona’s most distinctive cacti, forming large clusters of 30-foot high stems, branching from the base. These crested saguaros are rare and biologists are unsure why it develops. Saguaros sometimes grow in odd or misshapen forms. Here is a stunning specimen of a crested saguaro. However, biologists believe that some plants may live more than 200 years. This iconic cactus has an average life span of about 150 to 175 years. Saguaros are found exclusively in the Sonoran Desert and can grow to be more than 40 feet tall. The Carnegia gigantea, Saguaro Cactus, is an arborescent or tree-like cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea. The cardon cactus has grayish-green stems each featuring 10 to 15 ribs. It is slow growing, and grows up to an average 30-feet when mature, but there are some that are known to be as tall as 60-feet. It’s part of the columnar cacti family which also includes the giant Saguaro. Pachycereus pringlei, Cardon Cactus, also known as Mexican giant cardon or elephant cactus, is the tallest cactus in the world native to northwestern Mexico in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Sonora. The trunk is up to 10 inches thick, with branches sticking out at right angles, all covered with small leaves. The plant’s English name, Boojum, was given by Godfrey Sykes of the Desert Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona and is taken from Lewis Carroll’s poem “The Hunting of the Snark”.
This is a Boojum tree, Fouquieria columnaris. The pads are actually modified branches or stems that store water, help with photosynthesis, and produce flowers. It is common across the south-central and Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.Īll prickly pear cactus plants have flat, fleshy pads that look like large leaves. This is a bushy succulent shrub with light green or bluish-green, egg-shaped, fleshy pads that grow up to 12-inches across. Nearby is a bed of Opuntia engelmannii, prickly pear cactus. It forms a pale green, barrel-shaped stem with prominent ribs adorned with areoles and bright golden spines. This rare and distinctive barrel cactus has relatively delicate spines and a lighter green color.Įchinocactus grusonii, popularly known as the golden barrel cactus, golden ball or mother-in-law’s cushion, is a well known species of cactus, and is endemic to east-central Mexico. The barrel cacti in the foreground is Ferocactus pottsii – a species from Mexico.
Here is a closer look at a barrel cactus with its strong, stiff spines and prominent ribs. Most of these cactus plants grow up to two feet tall and about a foot in diameter. This space is divided into three different gardens featuring a selection of Sonoran desert plants.Īmong them, these barrel cacti – a group of barrel-shaped cacti native to North and South America. This is the Ottosen Entry Garden at the Desert Botanical Garden.
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