A Saguaro Cactus Waits Decades Before Growing Its First Arm

The saguaro, with its raised arms, is the cactus of every desert cartoon. Those arms take a very long time to appear. The U.S. National Park Service states that at Saguaro National Park, branches normally begin to appear when a saguaro reaches 60 to 75 years of age. In areas of lower precipitation, it may take up to 100 years. Everything about the plant is slow. Studies in the park indicate that a saguaro grows only a few inches in the first ten years of its life, and it begins to produce flowers at about 35 years of age. An adult is generally considered to be about 125 years old. By then it may weigh 2 or more tons and be as tall as 50 feet. The average life span is probably 150 to 175 years.