Golden Barrel Cactus

Echinocactus grusonii is well-known species of cactus native to Central Mexico, San Luis Potosi and Hidalgo. Was known as the Golden Barrel Cactus, Golden Ball or funny, mother-in-law a pillow. This is a small family Echinocactus, which together with its general Ferocactus, are commonly referred to as barrel cactus.

Golden barrel cactus may be up to 35 ribs pronounced in mature plants, although they are not evident in young plants, which may look gnarly. The thorns are long shadows, straight or slightly curved, and various white yellow or occasionally. Widely grown in warmer climates in the world, it is considered easy to grow and relatively fast growth. Golden barrel cactus has also been used as plant architecture in garden design. Small yellow flowers appear in summer around the crown of the plant, but only after twenty years or so.

The Golden barrels tolerate more irrigation than other cactuses and consequently do not rot as easily, it can withstand frost lower than 25F (about 4C). They can grow up to be 2ft. (.66 Meters). It grows best in light shade fertilize every 2-3 months during growing season.

Outside of Mexico, golden barrel cactus individuals can be seen in the collections of desert plants in several botanical gardens.

Saguaro Cactus Flower

Saguaro cactus blossoms photo by Rael B on Flickr -
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The state flower of Arizona is the saguaro cactus flower.The plural of cactus is cacti (cac-tie) not cactuses, although this 'new' word seems to be popping up more often and gaining in acceptability. Saguaro flowers are self incompatible thus require cross pollination. Large quantities of pollen are required for complete pollination as there are numerous ovules. A well-pollinated fruit will contain several thousand tiny seeds. The flowers remain open into the daylight hours and continue to produce nectar after sunrise. Doves and bees appear to be the primary daytime pollinators for saguaro cactus flower.

Saguaro Cactus

Saguaro cactus is a large tree sized cactus species in the monotypic genus carnegiea. It is native to the Sonoran Desert, in the U.S state of Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, a small part of Baja California in the San Felipe Desert and an extremely small area of California, U.S. These cactus, some as tall as 50 feet and as heavy as 8 tons, are one of the greatest symbols of America's wild deserts.

The Saguaro Cactus has a surprisingly shallow root system ,considering its great height and weight. It is supported by a tap root that is only a pad about 3 feet long, as well as numerous stout roots no deeper than a foot, emanating radially from its base. The slow growth and great capacity of the Saguaro to store water allow it to flower every year, regardless of rainfall. Like most cactus, saguaro cactus's bud appear on the southeastern exposure of stem tips, and flowers may completely encircle stems in a good year.