Desert Dwellers

I visited the Desert Botanical Garden in Tempe.
This is an old man cactus. The hair is soft and provides extra shade for it.
This is a mutated cactus which also happens to look like a brain.
Vibrant succulents.
Whiptail lizard.
Amazing agave.
Notice how the needles all protrude from small circular sections. They are called aereoles, and only cacti have them.
This ground squirrel was digging out his home.
This is a crested saguaro. The scientific name for a saguaros is quite fitting - carnegiea gigantea.
Mourning dove on a century agave.
Desert spiny lizard. He was huge!
You know how I love cholla nests.
Engelmann's Prickly Pear.
Another rare crested saguaro. Saguaros and many other cacti have pleats, like an acordion, in order to easily expand and store water for long periods of time. A large saguaro can hold up to a thousand gallons of water!




Cardinal.