May 12, 2006
At Saguaro National Park we watched a short film telling about the deserts vegetation and animals. A demonstration was shown about the Native Americans harvesting the seeds of the giant Saguaro cacti. The Saguaro Cactus are in bloom now. The blooms set on in the evening after temperatures cool some. By the next afternoon the blossom has wilted and the brief period of blooms is over. This period of short blooms continues for about 4 weeks. In June and July the fruit from the blossom of the saguaro ripens and each fruit contains 2000 seeds. The Indians harvest this juice and make jelly, wine and use it for other foods. Out of all the seeds produced by the Saguaros few make it into adulthood, only about 1 per year per tree. At one year the tree is only ¼ inch tall. After 15 years it is barely 1 foot tall. At about 30 years they begin to flower and produce fruit. After about 75 years they began to produce branches or arms. Saguaros can grow to around 50 feet and can live 150 years. Many roads and walking trails are in the park. We did enjoy learning about the majestic Saguaro but since we have been in the desert for some time we really did not find much else new or different there.