The saguaro or giant cactus is considered one of the dominant plants of the Sonoran Desert. It ranges from the Rio Mayo drainage southeast of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico northward to the Hualapai Mountains of Arizona, and from the Colorado River eastward to the western slopes of the Galiuro Mountains. This largest of all cacti native to the United States has in past years been of considerable economic importance to local Indian tribes who used the seeds and fruit pulp for food and for the preparation of an alcoholic beverage. In more recent times it has become an advertising symbol for south western living and its blossom has been adopted as the State flower of Arizona
