Saguaro National Park, July 2018: Flora & Fungi

The same moisture that blessed Saguaro National Park with more wildlife than any other place I visited on my summer road trip also enabled it to support a wide variety of vegetation. And since plants don't move around as much as animals do, I was able to get better photos of them.

Ocotillo, which I'd only previously photographed at Big Bend National Park.

The flowers on this may have already died, but they still provided a nice contrast to the green leaves.

Staghorn Cholla in bloom.

The Saguaro themselves were fascinating.  The pitted and pocked exteriors of some seemed to hint at lives much more interesting than their stolid silence suggested.

Prickly Pear, which I remember fondly from Chatfield State Park near our old home in Colorado.

A Saguaro sporting more flowers whose life had past, but beauty hadn't.

I feel like there's an awesome photo of cactus spines inside me somewhere that I haven't quite gotten out yet.  This Chain Fruit Cholla comes close.

How moist is Saguaro National Park?  Moist enough to support mushrooms!

Not hard to tell from this image how the Fishhook Barrel Cactus got the first part of its name.

Getting up close and personal to the plants definitely seemed to pay off!

Related Links:

• Saguaro National Park, July 2018: Wildlife
• Saguaro National Park, July 2018: Vistas
• Saguaro National Park, July 2018: Close-Ups