Carnigiea gigantea
“Saguaro cactus”
You know it, you love it! It’s the awe-inspiring giant that’s a keystone species for an entire ecosystem; Carnigiea gigantea provides food, shelter, tools, and building materials for animals all over the Sonora desert. Finding this plant so widespread ingame is actually pretty historically accurate too! Despite their extremely limited range in modern times, their historical range used to be a much broader, and their populations much denser. Saguaros are extremely sensitive to climate change and other human disturbances; they’re unable to germinate with too much frost and are sensitive to drought, unable to compete with invasive introduced grasses, and very limited by altitude. Unfortunately for how beloved and well-known they are, their populations in the last century have plummeted. Their game depiction is a beautiful glimpse into the past.
As for their morphology, the devs got them mostly right, they’re just a little small (and their spines are always shockingly white? I’m not sure if that’s a rendering thing with the lighting or what. It makes them look a little awkward.) I’d love if there was a patch update that gave them their true-to-life size. That “gigantea” species name isn’t just for show, y’know.
My rating: 8/8