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26 photos of Tucson's quirkiest saguaros
- Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
These unique saguaros march to the beat of their own spiny drums.
Tucson's quirky saguaros
You can find this crested saguaro near the entrance to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
Andi Berlin | This Is TucsonTucson's quirky saguaros
A rare crested saguaro stands on a slope above the Pima Canyon Trail.
Doug Kreutz/Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
This crested saguaro beside Old Main on the University of Arizona campus appears to be signaling a touchdown.
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
This photo was taken in Ironwood Forest National Monument, west of Marana.
Tucson's quirky saguaros
A Gila woodpecker prepares to pop into its nest on a crested saguaro at Tucson Botanical Gardens, Tuesday, June 1, 2004.
Chris Richards / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
This cactus was spotted west of Green Valley.
Courtesy Ron McLaughlinTucson's quirky saguaros
A little saguaro has found its niche between a rock and a hard place along the Esperero Trail in Sabino Canyon.
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
Many saguaros make a big thing of symmetry and perfect form. And then there's this one.
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
Distant finger rock is framed by the almost circular strands of a dead saguaro.
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
A Saguaro the looks like a dinosaur (Tyrannosaurus Rex) near Ridgeside Drive near Sediment Drive on Jan. 21, 2013.
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
An old multiple arm saguaro appears to ready to topple over Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 near Teal Blue Trail and Moore Roads.
JIM DAVISTucson's quirky saguaros
Scenery along the Valley View Overlook Trail at Saguaro National Park West on Dec. 15, 2010.
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
A saguaro appears to embrace the sunset in Sabino Canyon along the final stretch of a hike on the Phoneline Trail. Photo taken January 10, 2015. Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily Star
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
A crested saguaro with numerous arms soaks up the sun on the city's northwest side. Crested saguaros are quite rare happening only 1 in 10,000.
Jim DavisTucson's quirky saguaros
This saguaro, along the Mica View Trail at Saguaro National Park east of Tucson, was leaning at a precarious angle before it fell to the ground in early 2015. Photo by Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily Star
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
This cristate, or crested, saguaro in Sabino Canyon near Tucson is putting on a good bloom. Photo taken June 3, 2014. Photo by Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily Star
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
A rare crested saguaro in Sabino Canyon near Tucson has plenty of blooms and buds this spring. Photo taken June 3, 2014.
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
A prickly pear cactus is growing out of a saguaro in the Desert Garden area along the Bajada Loop Nature Trail in Sabino Canyon northeast of Tucson.
Doug Kreutz / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
A Saguaro cactus on Soldiers Trail Road that looks like an elephant in 1973. The Tucson Citizen called it a "Saguarontosaurus." "This spiny antecedent of the ponderous pachyderm stalks the desert east of town," the newspaper wrote. Tucson Citizen file
Tucson CitizenTucson's quirky saguaros
A fountain shaped like a saguaro cactus stands in front of a real cactus at a home in Dove Mountain on Aug. 31, 2010.
Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
Saguaros stand against a sky of patchy clouds Thursday afternoon on July 31, 2003 at Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Ariz.
Max BechererTucson's quirky saguaros
A rare tri-crested saguaro seems to be waving in the Tortolita Mountains on Jan. 3, 2002.
James DavisTucson's quirky saguaros
A saguaro wears a bikini outside a Pizza Hut at East Sunrise Drive and Swan Road June 17, 1997.
David SandersTucson's quirky saguaros
This rider has a cute little Saguaro cactus with a golf ball hat on his helmet during El Tour de Tucson on Saturday November 19, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz.
Benjie Sanders/Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
A rare crested saguaro cactus stands on the land of the 2,073-acre Green Valley preserve Oct. 7, 2007 in Green Valley, Ariz.
James Gregg / Arizona Daily StarTucson's quirky saguaros
A prickly pear cactus and another cactus grow out of one of the scars on the side of the transplanted saguaro Monday Sept. 9, 2002.
James DavisRelated to this collection
A car that crashed into a cactus in Tucson, leaving the saguaro sticking out of the windshield and garnering widespread attention online, has …
Editor's note: This story was originally published in August 2019.
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Bob Cardell calls it the "crest quest."
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