Golden Hour in the Desert

by Lucinda Walter

Title

Golden Hour in the Desert

Artist

Lucinda Walter

Medium

Photograph - Photography, Digital Art, Fine Art

Description

Golden Hour in the Desert Southwest. Captured in Tucson, Arizona as the sun was setting. Textures added.
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Identifying Features
The saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) is one of the defining plants of the Sonoran Desert. These plants are large, tree-like columnar cacti that develop branches (or arms) as they age, although some never grow arms. These arms generally bend upward and can number over 25. Saguaros are covered with protective spines, white flowers in the late spring, and red fruit in summer.
Habitat
Saguaros are found exclusively in the Sonoran Desert. The most important factors for growth are water and temperature. If the elevation is too high, the cold weather and frost can kill the saguaro. Although the Sonoran Desert experiences both winter and summer rains, it is thought that the Saguaro obtains most of its moisture during the summer rainy season.
Range
You find this cactus in southern Arizona and western Sonora, Mexico. At the northern portion of their range they are more plentiful on the warmer south facing slopes. A few stray plants can also be found in southeast California.
Wild Status
The saguaro is not currently listed as threatened or endangered. Arizona has strict regulations about the harvesting, collection or destruction of this species.
Life Span
With the right growing conditions, it is estimated that saguaros can live to be as much as 150-200 years old.
Size
Saguaro are very slow growing cactus. A 10 year old plant might only be 1.5 inches tall. Saguaro can grow to be between 40-60 feet tall (12-18m). When rain is plentiful and the saguaro is fully hydrated it can weigh between 3200-4800 pounds.
Extra Fun-facts
• The saguaro is the largest cactus in the United States.
• Most of the saguaros roots are only 4-6 inches deep and radiate out as far from the plant as it is tall. There is one deep root, or tap root that extends down into the ground more than 2 feet.
• After the saguaro dies its woody ribs can be used to build roofs, fences, and parts of furniture. The holes that birds nested in or "saguaro boots" can be found among the dead saguaros. Native Americans used these as water containers long before the canteen was available.
http://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Saguaro%20Cactus.php
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The Southwestern United States (also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest[1]) is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. Narrowly defined, the "core" Southwest is centered around the Four Corner states, with parts of the other states making up the beginnings and endings of the Southwest. The five main southwestern states, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, are also all considered part of the Mountain West as well as the Southwest. The total population of these states is roughly 19 million people. The largest city in the Southwest U.S is Phoenix. The top 4 biggest cities in the Southwest (in order) are: Phoenix, Arizona, El Paso, Texas, Denver, Colorado, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Most of it was a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, in the Spanish Empire, during the Modern Era. What is now California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and portions of Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Kansas were part of Mexico before the Mexican-American War and the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. Portions of some of the areas in the "divided" states, and including western parts of Texas, were those in dispute after the Texas Revolution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_United_States

Uploaded

January 6th, 2014

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