Carnegia gigantea

The saguaro, often used as a symbol of the western US deserts generally, though it occurs in the US only in a limited area, basically from the Phoenix area southeast and southwest to the Mexico border. For instance, you can find keychains with saguaro cacti depicted and "El Paso" written across the top, despite the fact that the closest saguaros are 300-some miles away.

Many saguaros in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 2/25/05.

Closer view of a stem in King Canyon, in the Tucson Mts., 2/4/05.