saguaro

saguaro
/seuh gwahr"oh, -wahr"oh/, n., pl. saguaros.
a tall, horizontally branched cactus, Carnegiea (or Cereus) gigantea, of Arizona and neighboring regions, yielding a useful wood and bearing an edible fruit: still locally common, though some populations have been reduced. See illus. under cactus.
[1855-60, Amer.; < MexSp saguaro, sahuaro, said to be < Opata (now extinct Uto-Aztecan language of Sonora)]

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Large, candelabra-shaped, branched cactus (Cereus giganteus, or Carnegiea gigantea) native to Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Slow-growing at first, mature saguaros may eventually reach 50 ft (15 m) in height. They bloom for the first time when 50–75 years old. They may die at 150–200 years (at a weight of up to 10 tons, or 9,000 kg), most commonly by being uprooted by wind or washouts. Shallow, wide-ranging roots gather moisture from a large area of desert to support the weighty top growth. The white, night-blooming flowers, which remain open into the next day, are the Arizona state flower. The red fruits have been an important food of American Indians.

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plant
also spelled  sahuaro 

      (Carnegiea gigantea), cactus species of the family Cactaceae, native to Mexico and to Arizona and California in the United States.

      Ribbed and columnar when young, a saguaro usually develops five or six branches at a height of about 5 metres (16 feet). Slow growing at first—it reaches only 2 cm (less than 1 inch) in height during its first 10 years—it grows approximately 10 cm (4 inches) a year after attaining a height of 2 to 3 metres (about 6.5 to 10 feet). It blooms for the first time when it is 50 to 75 years old. Mature saguaros may reach 15 metres (almost 50 feet) in height. They may die at 150 to 200 years of age, most commonly by being uprooted by wind or washouts. The shallow, wide-ranging roots, adapted to gathering moisture from a large area of desert, must sometimes support up to 9,000 kg (10 tons) of top growth.

      The white, night-blooming flowers, on top of trunk and branches, remain open part of the next day. The red fruits are an important food of American Indians, who also use the woody saguaro skeletons.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • saguaro — saguaro. m. Méx. Planta de la familia de las Cactáceas, que crece en las regiones desérticas de México y el suroeste de los Estados Unidos de América, con flores blancas y fruto comestible. * * * Cacto de gran tamaño (Cereus giganteus o Carnegiea …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Saguaro —   [spanisch mexikanisch], der Riesenkaktus …   Universal-Lexikon

  • saguaro — type of large branching cactus of the N.Amer. desert, 1856, from Mexican Spanish, from Piman native name, of unknown origin …   Etymology dictionary

  • saguaro — m. Méx. Planta de la familia de las Cactáceas, que crece en las regiones desérticas de México y el suroeste de los Estados Unidos de América, con flores blancas y fruto comestible …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • saguaro — ☆ saguaro [səwä′rōsə gwär′ō, sə wär′ō ] n. pl. saguaros [MexSp, after the Piman native name] a giant cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) with a thick, spiny stem and white flowers, native to the SW U.S. and N Mexico: also sahuaro [səwä′rō] …   English World dictionary

  • Saguaro — This article is about the cactus. For the Palm OS software, see Saguaro (Palm OS). For the baseball team, see Surprise Saguaros. Saguaro Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Saguaro — Carnegiea gigantea …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Saguaro — Carnegiea gigantea Carnegiea gigantea Systematik Ordnung: Nelkenartige (Caryophyllales) Familie …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • saguaro — Suwarrow Su*war row, n. (Bot.) The giant cactus ({Cereus giganteus}); so named by the Indians of Arizona. Called also {saguaro}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • saguaro — sa·guà·ro s.m. TS bot.com. gigantesco cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) che produce un frutto commestibile a forma di pera e che, immagazzinando grandi quantità d acqua nel tallo, evita il disseccamento totale dell ambiente arido in cui vive {{line}}… …   Dizionario italiano

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