Mexican giant cardon

Description

Pachycereus pringlei, also known as Mexican giant cardon or elephant cactus, is a species of cactus native to northwestern Mexico in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Sonora. It is commonly known as cardón, a name derived from the Spanish word cardo, meaning "thistle". Large stands of this cactus still exist, but many have been destroyed as land has been cleared for cultivation in Sonora. The fruit of this cactus was an important food for the Seri people in Sonora, who call the cactus xaasj. A symbiotic relationship with bacterial and fungal colonies on its roots allows P. pringlei to grow on bare rock even where no soil is available at all, as the bacteria can fix nitrogen from the air and break down the rock to produce nutrients. The cactus even packages symbiotic bacteria within its seeds. A cardon specimen is the tallest living cactus in the world, with a maximum recorded height of 19.2 m (63 ft 0 in), with a stout trunk up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in diameter bearing several erect branches. In overall appearance, it resembles the related saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea), but differs in being more heavily branched and having branching nearer the base of the stem, fewer ribs on the stems, blossoms located lower along the stem, differences in areoles and spination, and spinier fruit. Its flowers are white, large, nocturnal, and appear along the ribs as opposed to only apices of the stems. An average mature cardon may reach a height of 10 metres (30 ft), but individuals as tall as 18 metres (60 ft) are known. It is a slow-growing plant with a lifespan measured in hundreds of years, but growth can be significantly enhanced in its initial stages by inoculation with plant growth-promoting bacteria such as Azospirillum species. Most adult cardon have several side branches that may be as massive as the trunk. The resulting tree may attain a weight of 25 tons. Pachycereus is a genus of 9–12 species of large cacti native to Mexico and just into southern Arizona, United States. They form large shrubs or small trees up to 15 m tall, with stout stems up to 1 m in diameter. Pachycereus comes from the ancient Greek (pachys) meaning "thick" and the Latin cereus meaning "torch".