AJO MOUNTAIN SCENIC DRIVE - A SMATTERING OF SAGUAROS

The Saguaro (pronounced sah-WAR-rho) cactus is the iconic cactus from old Westerns; it's the tall cylindrical one with two "arms" that reach upwards (at least that's the storybook version!). In reality, they can just be a single upright cylinder, with no "arms" at all, or have any number of  'em, of all different sizes, poking out in all different directions. They grow mainly in the Sonoran Desert, and are a protected plant here - you may not cut one down, even if it's on your own property! We've seen so many interesting Saguaros that there is no way I could include any more than a teeny weeny sample here. Note: Not a single one of them had on a sombrero or a cowboy hat, unlike so many of the depictions I've seen all my life!

Many of them are single ones, which will bloom with only a single flower on the top

The Saguaro can produce one bloom on each arm, as well as on the top

Here is just a fraction of the more unusual ones we saw on the scenic drive:

 And this guy got scared and ran away as soon as we tried to photograph him!