Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) is one of the local columnar cactus of the very few that is found in Tucson, Arizona. These giant cactus can grow between 14 m to over 20 m while weighing over 3200 lbs. These cactus are heavy because of a desert adaptation which allows them to retain water by expanding its core. This allows the species to survive the extreme hot and dry summer conditions of the Sonoran Desert. However, this cactus doesn’t have high fitness in the cold conditions, so the cactus tend to freeze and possibly die in winter months. Even with environmental obstacles, the right conditions can allow these cacti can live over 200 years. Unlike most woody plants, with age they lack tree rings. Even without the tree rings researchers
