by Terry Lidral
Organ pipe cactus is a unique and endangered species that has been growing in the Sonoran Desert of the North American Southwest for about 3500 years. Because of its specific climate requirements, including warn wet seasons and constant above freezing temperatures, in the United States the organ pipe cactus lives in an extremely limited geographic location on the Arizona-California and Mexican border.
This cactus, with its multiple upright slender arms, got its name from 17th century European pioneers who were taken by its stark resemblance to the pipe organ. The alikeness to organ pipes is most prominent in dead plants with their woody, straight up arms.
The tropical cactus originated thousands of years ago in Central America. Its migration through Mexico came at the end of the Ice Age as temps warmed. But its progress was stopped abruptly by the killing frost just past what is now the United States border.
The majority of the organ pipe cacti in the United States are found within Organ Pipe National Monument located in southwestern Arizona on the Mexican border. They can also be found growing in Sinora, Sinaloa and Baja, California and Mexico.
Organ Pipe National Monument was established in April 1937 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of an effort to preserve a representative area of the Sonoran Desert. The commandeering of the approximately 330,000 acres of southwestern Arizona was met with pushback from ranchers grazing their cattle on that land. Thus, grazing permits were issued which were in effect until the 1960’s.
Find more information about the Organ Pipe National Monument here: https://www.nps.gov/orpi/index.htm
For the first 10 years of life, this species grows only a total of a few inches, making it vulnerable to trampling by animals and the heavy rain of the desert monsoon. Very few plants survive those first 10 years. The plants that do survive grow their first stem around the age of 10. It becomes sturdier with an average annual growth of 2.5 inches. Fully grown, the pipe organ cactus can reach a size of over 20 feet tall and can live up to 150 years.
The night blossoming organ pipe cactus first blooms around the age of 35, producing cream and lavender flowers on the top third of its stems. Depending on the winter rains, blooming usually begins sometime in June and lasts for several weeks.
Called by the sweet nectar of the flowers, long nosed bats migrate from Mexico to feast on the organ pipe blossoms. These seasonal visitors are the primary pollinators and, when the small red fruit appears, the bats help to spread the tiny seeds in their travels.
