On our road trip south of Superior last month, I happened to spot this saguaro along the side of the gravel road. Luckily, there was no traffic, so hubby graciously pulled to the side and let me play photographer.
While most saguaro cacti grow in a typical fashion, a few individuals will grow in an atypical form known as a cristate or crested saguaro. These bizarre looking forms often grow as a crest, but may also take other shapes such as balls or simply grotesque blobs.
The rare crested saguaro is an anomaly in the cactus world. These are mature cacti that begin to grow in a broad fan shape instead of continuing to develop a characteristic long trunk and curving limbs. Botanists don’t know what causes a saguaro to develop a crest. About one in 150,000 saguaros develop this unusual growth.
This is indeed a rare cactus. The only other one I have seen is at the museum at Lost Dutchman State Park, and that one was transplanted there. It was my lucky day!
On our road trip south of Superior last month, I happened to spot this saguaro along the side of the gravel road. Luckily, there was no traffic, so hubby graciously pulled to the side and let me play photographer.
While most saguaro cacti grow in a typical fashion, a few individuals will grow in an atypical form known as a cristate or crested saguaro. These bizarre looking forms often grow as a crest, but may also take other shapes such as balls or simply grotesque blobs.
The rare crested saguaro is an anomaly in the cactus world. These are mature cacti that begin to grow in a broad fan shape instead of continuing to develop a characteristic long trunk and curving limbs. Botanists don’t know what causes a saguaro to develop a crest. About one in 150,000 saguaros develop this unusual growth.
This is indeed a rare cactus. The only other one I have seen is at the museum at Lost Dutchman State Park, and that one was transplanted there. It was my lucky day!
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