While hiking on the Sutherland Trail in Catalina State Park, we spotted this most unusual cristate (or crested) saguaro not far from the trail. Most cristate saguaros have a mutation that forms at the top of the cactus, giving it a crown appearance. At one time, this may have been the case with this saguaro; however, as it grew and aged, its new arms grew taller than the crown. Of course, this is a guess using my limited knowledge of saguaros, especially the mutated ones. Even though I refer to the unusual growth as a mutation, biologists disagree on the cause.
The nest in the cactus is probably that of a Curve-billed Thrasher since they like to build their nest in a dense thorny shrub or a clump of cactus. Click here to see many more images of the rare form of cactus
— kenne
Images by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 
Wow, I spent quite a while looking at the many Cristate Seguaros at the site you have linked in here. It is absolutely amazing the dedication of a person that could seek out so many beauties not so easily accessed. You and Joe Orman should be and are by me, commended for your efforts to give us a window unto said beauty, And again, Wow! For those that did not bother to click on the link that says “click here” to see more Cristate Seguaros, I suggest that it is well worth the time! Truly amazing!
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Reblogged this on Becoming is Superior to Being and commented:
This image was first posted on March 10, 2012, on this site. — kenne
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