symbol of maternal love.
The saguaro cactus, Cereus giganteus or Carnegiea gigantean, meaning gigantic candle, is found only in the Sonoran Desert, which is in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. There it stands quietly towering over its desert friends, watching and waiting ever so peacefully. Although it may look simple and strange to the eye, it is actually very complicated and diverse in every way, shape, and form. They can grow to be almost 80 feet tall and weigh as much as several tons. The saguaro cactus commonly lives to be about 200 years old. Because saguaros grow so slowly, it might take 50 to 75 years for them to grow their first arms. Arms are important to them because they store extra water. After 100 years, they usually have several arms. After 200 years they have many arms.