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| ## saguaro cactus {#saguaro-cactus .Title-Header}                     |
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| *Carnegiea gigantea* (Engelm.) Britt. & Rose                          |
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| Plant Symbol = CAGI7                                                  |
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######### Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center

#### Alternative Names

giant cactus

#### Uses

*Ethnobotanic*: The fruits and the seeds of the saguaro were extensively
utilized for food by the Papago, Akimel and Tohono O\'odham (also known
as Pima), and Seri of Arizona and Mexico. In fact, families established
camps in specific cactus areas and in both the Papago and Pima
calendars, the saguaro harvest marked the beginning of the new year. The
fruits were harvested with a special pole, often made of saguaro ribs
with a small crosspiece. Some families still harvest the fruits today. A
gruel was traditionally made from the saguaro fruits and used as a
medicine by the Pima to make a mother\'s milk flow after childbirth. The
seeds were roasted and ground on a metate and made into a mush. Other
parts of the saguaro also were useful. The dead saguaro ribs were used
by the Pima as splints to bind injured limbs and as cross pieces in the
manufacture of

babies\' cradles. The Seri in Mexico used a piece of the saguaro rib to
make the mainshaft or handle of a compound drill stick used in fire
making. The ribs also were used as walking canes and in the making of
wattle and daub house walls.

*Wildlife*: The white-wing dove feeds on saguaro seeds during the
fruiting season. Gila woodpeckers and gilded flickers make holes in the
trunks and use them as nests. After these are abandoned, they are
inhabited by elf owls and
starlings.![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.1034722222222224in"
height="3.1458333333333335in"}

#### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status and wetland indicator values.

#### Description

*General*: Cactus Family (Cactaceae). This cactus has an erect, branched
stem 3-16 m tall and 30-75 cm in diameter. The arms sometimes number as
many as 50. The ribs are prominent and number from 12 to 30. Gray spines
densely cover the stem. The funnelform-campanulate flowers are 8.5-12.5
cm and the outer parts are green with lighter borders and the inner
parts are petal-like and white. The nocturnal flowers appear singly at
the uppermost areoles and they smell like ripe melons. When open, each
flower is filled with many white stamens. The fruit is scaly, 25-45 mm
in diameter and obovoid with a dark red interior and black seeds that
are about 0.75 in diameter.

#### Distribution

For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site. This cactus is found on gravelly slopes,
rocky ridges and outwash fans below 1500 m in the Lower Sonoran Zone,
from northern Arizona and along the Colorado River in Riverside and
Imperial Counties, California, to northern Sonora, Mexico.

#### Establishment

Saguaro cacti need well-drained soil and full sunlight for optimal
development. They also cannot withstand prolonged temperatures below
freezing. Since saguaros grow so slowly, it is best to obtain
nursery-grown plants. Plant saguaros in the ground in October, being
sure that the area selected is sheltered from full sun with a shade
cloth or by other means through the first summer. Plants should be
planted away from compacted areas that receive foot travel or heavy
equipment. Young plants can be watered once a month during extended
drought, but established plants can survive solely upon natural
rainfall.

#### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

CAGI7 is somewhat available through native plant nurseries and seed
companies within its range. Contact your local Natural Resources
Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service) office for
more information. Look in the phone book under "United States
Government". The Natural Resources Conservation Service will be listed
under the subheading "Department of Agriculture."

#### References

Anderson, E.F. 1993. Cactaceae. Pp. 450-458 IN: *The Jepson manual
higher plants of California*. J.C. Hickman (ed). University of
California Press, Berkeley, California.

Arizona State University Plant Herbarium 2000. *Arizona trees and
shrubs*. Version: 000228.
\<http://ls.la.asu.edu/herbarium/treeshrub/pages/plants/cargig.html\>.
ASU Life Sciences, Tucson, Arizona.

Castetter, E.F. & W.H. Bell 1942. *Pima and Papago Indian agriculture*.
University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Curtin, L.S.M. 1984. *By the prophet of the earth ethnobotany of the
Pima*. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.

Felger, R.S. & M.B. Moser 1985. *People of the desert and sea
ethnobotany of the Seri Indians*. University of Arizona Press, Tucson,
Arizona.

Kearney, T.H. & R.H. Peebles 1960. *Arizona flora*. University of
California Press, Berkeley, California.

Mielke, J. 1993. *Native plants of southwestern landscapes*. University
of Texas Press, Austin, Texas

Rea, A.M. 1997. *At the desert\'s green edge an ethnobotany of the Gila
River Pima*. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.

Shreve, F. & I.L. Wiggins 1964. *Vegetation and flora of the Sonoran
Desert*. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, California.

USDA, NRCS 2000. *The PLANTS database*. Version: 000229.
\<http://plants.usda.gov\> National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana.

#### Prepared By and Species Coordinator

*M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of California,
Davis, California

Edited: 05dec00 jsp; 29apr03 ahv; 31may06 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
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