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‘Extremely Rare Phenomenon’ Reported Among Centuries-Old Cacti In Arizona Desert
Yahoo News ^ | 5-30-2021 | Mark Price

Posted on 05/30/2021 5:11:03 AM PDT by blam

A hint of crazy things to come may be playing out in the Arizona desert — and it involves a giant species of cactus.

Saguaros, which can live for centuries and grow to nearly 80 feet, have erupted in spring blooms that are spreading far beyond the norm. It’s almost as if the plants are breaking out in a rash of blooms.

This is happening in the Sonoran Desert and experts suspect it may be an example of how the warming environment is impacting even the oldest of plants.

A rare phenomenon is unfolding in Arizona: Saguaros cacti, which live centuries, have erupted in blooms that are spreading across their bodies like a rash.

“Tucson residents are witnessing an extremely rare phenomenon: saguaro blooms are literally busting out all over,” the Sonoran Desert Network & Desert Research Learning Center reported May 26 on Facebook.

“Saguaros typically bloom in spring. And when they do, the blooms are usually confined to a crown at the very top of the main body or mature arms,” the center wrote. “But after an unseasonal bloom last fall, saguaro flowers are now appearing down the length of main stems and arms, and — remarkably — even on small buds.”

The odd behavior takes on added significance given the saguaro’s long life span.

“An adult saguaro is generally considered to be about 125 years of age,” the National Park Service reports. “The average life span of a saguaro is probably 150-175 years of age. However, biologists believe that some plants may live over 200 years.”

Saguaro are considered to be a “symbol of the American west,” yet they are rare, NPS officials say.

(snip)

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: arizona; bats; cacti; cactus; desert
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To: mylife
...ever seen a bobcat on top of a saguaro?

What’re you lookin’ at?

21 posted on 05/30/2021 5:39:52 AM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: blam

Seen this once years ago in travels in AZ. some where blloming just at top and some had blooms down lower or on the arms. Maybe they’re getting plenty of water and more nutrients with it?

I also have an decades old indoor “christmas cactus” tends to just bloom at christmas time. It did last christmas and again late april into may this year. I just thought cool and saw it as amazing beauty of God’s creation.

Maybe I should take time and decifer what it means with climate or end of world?


22 posted on 05/30/2021 5:40:00 AM PDT by b4me (Repeated lies does Not equal TRUTH. )
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To: Caipirabob

Didn’t you know that cooling is a sign of global warming? Duh. Get with the program.

/s


23 posted on 05/30/2021 5:40:34 AM PDT by cockroach_magoo
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To: coloradan

No, it was 8 years ago


24 posted on 05/30/2021 5:42:00 AM PDT by A_Former_Democrat (#LeaveTheGOP. Pass it on Liberty Valance Time. The point of a gun is the only law they understan)
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To: Cowgirl of Justice
Idiot leftists- they pulled that Ice Age BS when I was a little girl

Climate + change = the Leftists have it covered no matter what the weather does.

Used to be global cooling so we're going to have an ice age. Then it was global warming until some "leading scientists" were proven to have cooked their models. Now it's climate change. The scary thing is that so many people adopt the language and viewpoint like good little robots without considering the contradictions in their own predictions.

25 posted on 05/30/2021 5:43:15 AM PDT by Avalon Memories (Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...)
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To: Caipirabob
.."as anything below 100 out here is wonderful.

Dittos. Tucson cacti may be celebrating.

For those who may not know, triple digits are no problem here. Personally, 105 is usually (not always) the point I wish it wasn't so hot, but I've felt worse in Houston in March at 85°. A 78° ac setting is sometimes too cool. A 100° day in some homes requires nothing but a ceiling fan.

This May has been a delight. Party 0n ! cacti.

26 posted on 05/30/2021 5:44:14 AM PDT by chiller (Davey Crockett said: "Be sure you're right. Then go ahead'. I'm going ahead.)
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To: blam
Jest gettin' gussied up fer when the boys come a-courtin'


27 posted on 05/30/2021 5:45:54 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: blam
This is absolutely ridiculous. Saguaro cactus bloom every year and have done so for as long as recorded history.

The climate in Arizona has not changed measurably since records have bee kept. In fact, the thriving of Saugaro cactus is a very good arguemement against climate change since these cactus only live in an ecosystem defined by very, very narrow band of altitude , temperature and rainfall. Any changes in climate has huge impact on them

28 posted on 05/30/2021 5:47:35 AM PDT by rdcbn1
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To: blam
Saguaro are considered to be a “symbol of the American west,” yet they are rare, NPS officials say.

I call BS on that. They are "rare outside their usual climate zone. They have relatively specific needs in terms of temperature and water. But within those zones they are all over the place. Anyone who has driven in and around Tucson can vouch for that.

29 posted on 05/30/2021 5:52:50 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Biden/Harris - illegitimate and everyone knows it.)
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To: Caipirabob

I’m in the California desert, not AZ, but we have had a very cool Spring, and our (AZ) Palo Verde tree has loved it, putting on a show of yellow blooms like never before. Standing underneath, it sounds like an electrical station from the 1000s of honeybees.


30 posted on 05/30/2021 5:54:13 AM PDT by Chaguito
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To: blam

If this event is such a terrible thing maybe the tree huggers should destroy all of the Saguaros and permanently put an end to it.


31 posted on 05/30/2021 5:55:52 AM PDT by chopperk
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To: blam

They are calling to Cicada Brood X.


32 posted on 05/30/2021 5:56:21 AM PDT by Empire_of_Liberty
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To: blam

I live in the Phoenix area, have an eighteen foot Saguaro with the beginnings of two arms. The picture is not unlike what my Saguaro did a week ago, and in May of last year and the May before that.


33 posted on 05/30/2021 6:01:07 AM PDT by Michael.SF. (Never do anything illegal, when you are doing something illegal.)
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To: mylife

More bats, more Corona, WE’RE DOOMED!


34 posted on 05/30/2021 6:08:50 AM PDT by frogjerk (I will not do business with fascists)
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To: blam

I see something I have not seen previously.

Therefore, something changed.

That is the “science” behind this article.


35 posted on 05/30/2021 6:09:54 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (We are being played by forces most do not understand)
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To: blam

My first thought was that even the cacti are beginning to anticipate the re-ording of the Creation in preparation for welcoming the Return of the Rightful Lord.
...Just my opinion.


36 posted on 05/30/2021 6:10:03 AM PDT by langleyaction (Embedded within every corrupt system are the seeds of its destruction)
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To: blam

When primitive minds experienced a solar or lunar eclipse, they thought the Gods were angry with them.

That is the thinking behind this article.


37 posted on 05/30/2021 6:12:03 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (We are being played by forces most do not understand)
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To: chopperk

Let ‘em go hug a saguaro first.

With a bobcat on top.


38 posted on 05/30/2021 6:12:37 AM PDT by absalom01 (You should do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, and you should never wish to do less.)
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To: blam

If all the “climate change” preachers would just take their own personal carbon emissions to zero, the world would be such a wonderful place—peace and quiet!


39 posted on 05/30/2021 6:13:40 AM PDT by cgbg (A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
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To: blam
The cacti are blooming in my California garden, as they do once, sometimes twice a year. I also have an explosion of bees this year:

EF6-AA9-A2-9257-4311-9380-91-B411048050-1-105-c

Yep. World must be ending.

40 posted on 05/30/2021 6:20:29 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (Rigged Elections have Consequences)
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