Ever seen the inside a Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea)?

The woody skeleton inside the saguaro gives a framework of interconnected, woody ribs that provide structural support, enabling the cactus to reach heights of up to 40–50 feet.

Unfortunately, this saguaro is going to look like this fairly soon.

Saguaros have evolved to withstand the harsh conditions of the desert. However, the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves in the Phoenix area have begun to exceed their tolerance levels. This is a very sad example of climate change here in the Phoenix Valley.

If anything good can be said of it, it will at least feed the desert critters; they seem to love munching on the soft green flesh.

Here, you can see where they are nibbling at the base of this young saguaro.

The green flesh has all been consumed here just leaving the reddish brown woody underside.

This green lichen is all over the rocks; it is this bright fluorescent green, and I haven’t bumped the color at all.

Desert rocks here have what is called Desert Varnish. It is a dark, glossy coating that forms on the surface of rocks in arid environments over thousands of years. You can read more about it here.

You can really see the shiny thick varnish on this rock. It can make for some beautiful colors.

Here you can see their shallow root system.

Saguaros possess an extensive but shallow root system, spreading out as wide as the cactus is tall, to efficiently capture rainfall. This also makes them more prone to falling over and, unfortunately, being stolen from the wild.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little desert walk.

You can see the chosen daily pic at 365Pixels