Get to Know Yucca brevifolia
The first Joshua Tree you see may cause you to exclaim: What in the world?!
Perhaps you’re cruising along a desert highway when the first strange shape whizzes by, large and ragged-looking. You double-take to catch another glimpse of this bizarre asymmetrical structure, which seems to be spidering out of the desert floor from another realm. Soon, more of these fantastic Suessian oddities appear among the crags and folds of the desert. First, just a smattering, next dotting the landscape like stubble, and, before long, you’re immersed in a phantasmagorical forest that dominates the landscape. As you approach the heart of the desert, giant stones and great mountain-like piles of giant stones rise up, and the whole scene appears ever more otherworldly. Welcome to the unique ecosystem of the Mojave Desert and the most famous succulent in the world, Yucca brevifolia, the fascinating Joshua Tree.
The Western Joshua Tree is an evergreen succulent in the agave subfamily of Asparagaceae — the asparagus family. Joshua Trees are arguably the most well-known, imposing, and spectacular of all Yuccas — a group that includes upwards of 40 different species of plants, all with thick, fleshy tissues adapted to store water.
Yucca brevifolia is known by several common names, including Yucca Palm, Tree Yucca, and Palm Tree Yucca. In Spanish, these trees are known as “Izote de Desierto” — Desert Daggers! Still, no moniker for this weird and wonderful species has persisted like the name Joshua Tree, a name said to have originated with Mormon settlers in the mid-19th Century, who saw in the tree’s peculiar silhouettes the outstretched arms of the biblical prophet Joshua guiding them westward.
Native to the arid southwestern United States, Joshua Trees are indelibly associated with the Mojave Desert, where they are considered a major indicator species for the desert’s health throughout its geographical reach across southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and down into northwestern Mexico. Joshua trees grow at desert floor elevations all the way up to over 7,000 feet. They can withstand temperature extremes from well below freezing to relentless desert heat in excess of 120°F.
Yucca brevifolia is the largest of all Yuccas, typically growing to heights of around 40 feet at full maturity. The tallest known Joshua Tree is more than 50-feet tall and the stoutest boasts an amazing trunk girth of 4-1/2 feet across (14 feet around). Achieving this monumental size takes centuries, as Joshua Trees grow at a rate of just 2–3” per year when young, and half that rate after their first decade of life. While this pace may seem sluggish, it is impressively robust compared to the growth rates of most desert species and is one of the reasons Joshua Trees dominate the Mojave ecosystem. Joshua Trees can live for hundreds of years, and some individual specimens are thought to be more than a thousand years old.
A complete write-up of the natural history of Yucca brevifolia included with each kit.
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