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.

Tanisha Tucker Lohse, of the Tohono Oʼodham nation, picks a ripe saguaro cactus fruit during a harvest day in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, June 23, 2025. Credit: AP ...

Tanisha Tucker Lohse, right, and Maria Francisco, both of the Tohono Oʼodham nation, harvest fruit from a saguaro cactus in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, June 23, 2025.

Tanisha Tucker Lohse, of the Tohono Oʼodham nation, opens the ripe fruit from a saguaro cactus during harvest picking season in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, June 23, 2025.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The saguaro cactus is the iconic plant of the Arizona borderlands, and in June and early July, its thorn-covered small fruit ripens.

Clayborne Thomas, of the Tohono Oʼodham nation, catches a fruit harvested from a saguaro cactus in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.