It’s almost as if the plants are breaking out in a rash of blooms. “The reasons for all this are unclear, but it’s notable that 2020 brought Tucson its hottest summer and second-driest monsoon on record — leading some longtime observers to hypothesize that the extraordinary bloom is a stress response,” the center wrote. ‘Extremely rare phenomenon’ reported among centuries-old cacti in Arizona desert Sonoran Desert Network & Desert Research Learning Center
