((PKG))  SAGUARO CACTUS     
((VOA Russian)) 
((Banner:  Prickly Splendor))
((Reporter:Ê Daria Dieguts))
((Camera:Ê Sergey Sokolov; David Gogokhia)) 
((Adapted by:Ê Zdenko Novacki))
((Map:Ê Sonora Desert, Arizona))
((NATS))
((Andy Fisher, Spokesperson, Saguaro National Park))
Most of the saguaro cactus are 35 to 40 feet (10 to 12 meters) which is a three to four story building.  They can get taller, but usually they top out right about there. 
((NATS))
((Andy Fisher, Spokesperson, Saguaro National Park))
Most of them in this district, when they're about 55 or 60 years old, they'll put on their first flowers. ÊAt about 75 years, they'll put out their first arm. ÊMaybe in 150 years, they'll be at their full height with as many arms as they're going to have. ÊAnd then around 200 years is when we would expect the old cactus to start showing signs of mortality. ÊIn May is when we would start to see those big flowers. ÊThose flowers then get pollinated by bats and birds and bees. ÊIn July or so is when weÕll start to see those flowers close up and turn into that egg-shaped fruit, very similar in style to what we see in the prickly pear except that when itÕs ripe, itÕll burst open and it looks like a four petaled, bright red flower with the ball of fruit, kind of, sitting in the center of it. 
((NATS))
((Andy Fisher, Spokesperson, Saguaro National Park))
The seeds themselves are very tiny, I mean, they're very tiny. ÊThey look like grains of pepper, is how big the seed is. It's very, very tiny, and not even like a whole peppercorn, like when you grind pepper.  Each of these will, maybe, put out a couple thousand seeds. ÊIf one of them even germinates, that's a very lucky seed. ÊAnd then beyond that, all of the conditions have to be perfect in order for a saguaro seedling to live. 
((NATS))
((Andy Fisher, Spokesperson, Saguaro National Park))
You think about water. ÊWhen we do get rain here, it's unusual for it to rain for more than a day, day and a half.  Really, most of those rains are only a couple of hours long.  So, when the rain hits the ground that that absorbs in, it only absorbs down a couple of inches before it starts to pull out by the sun again. 
((NATS))
((Andy Fisher, Spokesperson, Saguaro National Park))
They may be shallow, but there's an immense network that's under our feet and they can go out as far as they are tall.ÊÊSo, we are easily standing on these two big guysÕ roots.Ê
((NATS))
     ((Andy Fisher, Spokesperson, Saguaro National Park))
Saguaro National Park is located in Tucson, Arizona.ÊÊThis park is actually one of the few in the United States national park system that was set aside specifically for science.ÊÊPeople wanted to understand this environment and understand this species, andÊso,Êthat was part of our enabling legislation in 1933.ÊÊ
((NATS))
((Andy Fisher, Spokesperson, Saguaro National Park))
Everything in the National Park is protected. ÊSo, we don't allow harvesting or collecting of any materials that are here in the park and that goes for cactus. 
((NATS))