Saguaros The Desert Giants

Ask a child to draw a picture of a cactus, & the result will probably look like a saguaro. Indeed, mass media have made this denizen of the Sonoran Desert universally recognizable, & perhaps just as misunderstood. In Saguaro: The Desert Giant, Anna Humphreys & Susan Lowell share true stories about this amazing, anthropomorphic cactus that are at least as intriguing as the folklore. A saguaro can grow to be a towering fifty feet or more & live for as long as two centuries. During rainy seasons, a large saguaro can soak up literally hundreds of gallons of water in its expandable, accordion-folded trunk & arms. For uncounted generations, the Tohono O'odham people in Arizona have harvested the sweet saguaro fruits to make syrup & wine. Profusely illustrated with contemporary & historic photographs & other artwork, Saguaro: The Desert Giant celebrates this iconic cactus while arguing that the need to preserve its critical Sonoran Desert habitat is more pressing now than ever.Humphreys, Anna is the author of 'Saguaros The Desert Giants' with ISBN 9781887896306 and ISBN 1887896309.