TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Cousins Tanisha Tucker Lohse and Maria Francisco set off from their desert camp around dawn on most early summer days, in search of ripe fruit from the towering saguaro cactus, an ...

Saguaro cactus fruit grow at the end of an arm during a harvest day for the Tohono Oʼodham people in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, June 23, 2025. Credit: AP The two women are ...

TUCSON, Ariz. • Cousins Tanisha Tucker Lohse and Maria Francisco set off from their desert camp around dawn on most early ...

Arizona's saguaro cactus has evolved to thrive in the extreme climate of the Sonoran Desert, but after decades of rising heat, even these towering icons are showing signs of stress.

The saguaro cactus is the iconic plant of the Arizona borderlands, and in June and early July, its fruit ripens. For the Tohono O'odham Nation, harvest time for the “bahidaj” is a sacred start ...