Arizona's State Flower
is the Saguaro Cactus Blossom.

• It opens at night and, by morning, the blossom is fading away. Bats and night insects drink the nectar from the Saguaro blossom and help to pollinate the flowers.

• The Saguaro Cactus Blossom became the Territorial flower in 1901 and the state flower in 1931.

• A fruit forms at the top of the long arms, where the blossom has been. The native people of Arizona have a tradition of collecting the fruit and making an edible syrup from them. They use long poles to knock them down when they are ripe, and they must be careful because the fruit is covered with stickers!

• A Saguaro which has arms with blossoms is very old, probably over 100 years! A great book to read about the life of a Saguaro cactus is Cactus Hotel by Brenda Z.Guiberson.

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