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Oct. 12, 2006 Before I could start writing an article about these two species of cactus, I had to resolve some problems with etymology, spelling and grammar. First of all, the plural of the word ‘cactus’ is either ‘cactuses’ or ‘cacti’, according to American Heritage Dictionary. But ‘cactus’ may also be used as a collective or quasi-plural, as in, “Arizona abounds in cactus.” The word is from Latin ‘cactus’, which is from Greek ‘kaktos’, but in these languages it meant 'cardoon', a totally unrelated artichoke-like plant of the Mediterranean region. The spelling ‘saguaro’ is the preferred spelling, but ‘sahuaro’ also enjoys some popularity, with search results for the two spellings showing a 7-to-1 ratio. ‘Saguaro’ originates in a Mexican Spanish transcription of an Indian name. In Spanish, ‘g’ between vowels is a voiced velar fricative, like today’s Greek gamma, which probably sounds silent to Americans. So the usual pronunciation in the US is ‘sawáro’ or ‘sawóro’. The plural is ‘saguaros’ or ‘sahuaros’, not ‘saguaroes’ or ‘sahuaroes’. This varies from ‘tomato’ and ‘potato’, both of which add ‘-es’ in the plural. The word ‘Mojave’, pronounced ‘mohávi’ in the US, is the name of the southwestern desert. The spelling ‘Mohave’ also occurs. Search results prefer the former 3-1. One has to stop and wonder at the infinite and needless complexity of the English language! Anyway, saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea, or Cereus giganteus) and organ pipe cactuses (Stenocereus thurberi) are two species in the subfamily Cactoideae, of the the family Cactaceae, of the order Caryophyllales. Other caryophyllalians are all other kinds of cactus, as well as amaranth, baby’s-breath, beets, bougainvillea, carnations, four-o’clocks, pinks, spinach and sweet Williams. One may wonder how it is that cactus is lumped with such flowers as carnations and bougainvillea, but cactus blooms too, and undoubtedly the flowers are similar. The monstrous size and shape of the stem and branches of these two cactuses is probably an adaptation to the drought of the desert. They have become bloated in order to retain whatever water may rain upon them in the course of a year. With a total of 19 years in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, I have seen plenty of cactus. The saguaro is most obvious in Arizona, where the saguaro blossom is the state flower, but I’m sure I’ve seen it in the other three states as well. I’ve also seen it in Baja California and Sonora, a territory and a state in México just south of California and Arizona. I never saw saguaros in and around Albuquerque, where I lived three years, but in southern New Mexico, as I recall, there are some. Today, the saguaro is a protected plant, but when I was a child in Arizona (1943-45 and 1951-54), I uprooted a few small saguaros and dragged them miles across the desert to plant around our house. Sometimes dead saguaros would still be standing upright. Inside the trunk, there are usually 8 to 12 woody poles. So I would knock over the trunk, and break up the poles for firewood. Finding firewood was one of my chores in those days of poverty. The spines of the saguaro are recurved, like fish-hooks, so that one may place his palm upon the trunk and lean on the cactus. The Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is about 100 miles west of Tucson, and, though I vaguely recall visiting the site as a child with my parents, I was a little puzzled in the Spring of 2004, when I travelled twice by bus through Sonora and Baja California, where endless stands of organ pipe cactus are scattered all over the Mojave Desert. At first I thought they were young saguaros, but eventually the name ‘organ pipe cactus’ came to mind, and later I confirmed it online. Here are pictures of the two species of cactus. http://www.beaglesunlimited.com/desktopimages/saguaro_natl_monument01.jpg http://jdburgessonline.com/arizona/images/organpipe/organpipe-cactus.jpg And here is a saguaro blossom: http://www.azrvparks.com/art/saguaro.jpg ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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