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Enormous cactus, silhouetted by the setting sun, for most of us the Giant Saguaro is the universal symbol of the American West. And yet, these majestic plants are only found in a small portion of the United States, 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. The saguaro blossom is the State Wildflower of Arizona. In habitat adult plants grow out in full sun with plenty of high temperature days over 100 F, but as juveniles they are able to live as house plants with less sun and much cooler summer temperatures. The method of reproduction for saguaro cacti is by seed production and is able to maintain its population by producing extremely large quantities of seeds within the fruits. Each fruit can produce up to 2,000 seeds and it is not uncommon to have over 30 fruits per stem on an individual saguaro. If favourable conditions occur, growth can begin within 48 hours they grow best in coarse, well-drained soils and seeds require high temperatures to germinate.
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