Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum



I am continuing with photos taken while I showed Lynne the Tucson attractions. We visited the famed Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and I took many pictures. Here are four of them.

The first one is of a Teddy Bear Cholla (choy-ya).

Perhaps someone can identify the second one. It's a desert flower and looks something like a member of the Lily family.

The third one is looking toward the Tucson Mountains. The
branches in the upper right hand corner are an Ocotillo (ock-oh-tea-yoh) cactus.

The middle of the photo shows our famed Saguaro (sah-war-oh) cactus. It is only found in the
Sonora Desert and Baja, California. The Saguaro blossom is the state flower and you can see them at the top of this post. (I did not take this picture as the Saguaro only blooms in April and May.) The O'odham Indians use the fruit to make jam, jelly and other things. The Saguaro takes up to 75 years to develop an arm. They live more than 150 years
and can become 75 feet tall. Some have lived 200 years (Even older than I am.)

ARIZONA SONORA DESERT MUSEUM facts:

The world renowned museum was founded in1952 by William Carr and Arthur Pack. It was one of the first naturalist zoos in the U. S. It is now a zoo, botanical garden and museum. The museum is a lab for research, education, and conservation of the Sonoran Desert.

Over 1/2 million people visit each year.


Tomorrow I will continue with the Museum
.


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6 comments:

Gary White said...

Great photo, Darlene!

Gary White said...

I meant "photos"

20th Century Woman said...

How beautiful the desert is. Your post makes me want to see it again soon.

kenju said...

Beautiful photos and I love seeing the cactus. I was in the Sonoran Desert once - at Taliesin in Scottsdale.

Darlene said...

Gary, Thank you.

20th Century Woman, Please do come again and I will show you the real attractions.

Kenju, You saw Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen West I believe.

Anil P said...

I've never seen a desert zoo, but it must be beautiful. There must be quite a veriety of desert blooms on display in the museum. The first picture is very striking, somehow very new to someone who lives in the tropics.