~It All Comes Together~

~Saguaro Going To Seed~
~The Monsoons Approach~

In late spring the Saguaro cactus will begin to put up flower buds, a few week later the flowers open and the bats, moths, bees and other insects begin the pollination process. The flowers then start to wilt and shrivel. After that the flower stocks will begin to expand as the seeds inside start to grow and increase in size.

As the flower bases swell they turn from bright green to flaming red, a signal to the birds that the time is near for free food. The swollen pods soon burst from the pressure of the many hundreds of seed inside. The local doves, ravens, robins, sparrows and other avians will battle over a territory as small as the top of a Saguaro cactus.

To make a long story short, probably too late for that, the birds eat the seeds, then poop the seeds, the monsoons come and the raindrops will water the fertilized seeds. Then if all circumstances come together into the perfect situation, maybe one of the many millions of seeds will become a giant Saguaro cactus. That cactus will live for 200 or more years and produce many billions of seeds, to help feed the birds, who will help grow more Saguaro cactus, which will feed more birds.

Thanks for stopping by, TucsonJim ;o)

• Canon PowerShot A650 IS:
• f/8:
• 1/800":
• 44.4mm:
• ISO 200

• viewed 284 times :
• 7 comments :
• show tags

• about BikerJim :
• view blipfolio