Saguarohenge

The eight large saguaros seen today were planted in a circle by Robie Pardee, a landscape architect and project manager for Pima County Parks and Recreation. The saguaros were placed to honor his mother, Alice Pike Pardee.

The sahuaro name, now written saguaro, is from the Tohono O'odham native tribe. The first botanical name Cereus giganteus was designated by botanist George Engelmann. The currently accepted scientific name was changed to Carnegiea gigantea (kar-neh-GEE-ah jy-gan-TEE-ah) by Nathaniel Lord Britton in 1908 to honor Andrew Carnegie a popular 20th century philanthropist who also helped fund the creation of the Desert Botanical Laboratory in Tucson. Carnegiea gigantea is the largest cactus within the United States and is only found native to the Sonoran Desert.