Elsewhere

Flagship species of the Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona, the blossom of the Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) was made the state flower in 1931.

  

Saguaro is a columnar, tree-type cactus famous for its branching "arms."  Saguaro is not just a state symbol for Arizona, it is arguably the state symbol; a signature found on the license plates and featured in almost any publication, marketing device, or logo related to the state.  While our Basalt Cactus is relatively small and nests obscurely on the ground, Saguaro is a sentinel that commands the field of view and focuses the gaze, sometimes reaching a height of 40 feet in a 200-year lifetime.

To our knowledge, Colorado is the only state to have adopted a state cactus as one of its official state symbols.

 

The Claret Cup (Echinocereus triglochidiatus) is a beautiful  hedgehog-type cactus with a wide distribution throughout the desert Southwest.  Not unlike Basalt Cactus, the Claret Cup grows low to the ground, often in bunches, crowned with striking springtime inflorescence.

  

The Claret Cup became the state cactus of Colorado after the adopted bill HB 14-1024 was signed into law by Governor John W. Hickenlooper on
7 March 2014.

Texas has over 100 individual species of cactus, the most of any state.  Many of these are different species of prickly pears (genus Opuntia).  It does not appear that the Texas State Legislature had any one species in mind when designating "Prickly Pear" as the state plant via HCR 44 in 1995.

  

There are just 4 species of cactus native to Washington, and the other 3 aside from Basalt Cactus are prickly pears.  They are a varied and adaptable group, some of which are used for food.  The exceptionally hardy Brittle Prickly Pear has the most northerly native range of any cactus, found as far north as the Peace River Valley in Alberta.