Organ Pipe Cactus

Photos by Lisa E White

This Organ Pipe Cactus in my yard is a good example of the second tallest cactus in Arizona which grows up to 25 feet high.  (Saguaros are always #1!!)   Each plant has about 5-20 vertical columnar stems that look like the pipes on an old-fashioned organ.  Each stem has 12-17 ribs which are lined with areoles made up of about 9 radiating spines. The plant grows about 2.5 inches a year from the tip of the stem, often with a slight constriction for each year's growth caused from cold temperatures.  Organ Pipe Cactus can live 150 years and usually doesn't flower for the first 35 years.  Like most cacti, it stores water in its stems and hates frost, so seldom is found at elevations above 3,000 feet.  Organ Pipe National Monument in Southwest Arizona is the largest stand of Organ Pipe Cacti in the world and is now an International Biosphere Reserve.  Why not take a trip to Why, Arizona and see for yourself?

Organ Pipe National Monument