Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Joshua Tree – Root and Branch Review

Joshua Tree – Root and Branch Review

Joshua Tree

See the Joshua tree as early Mormon settlers did in the barren desert lands of Utah and Arizona. Deep roots and leaves designed to minimise transpiration allow this tree to survive for many years.

Key Features of the Joshua Tree

  • Latin name – Yucca Brevifolia other common names Palm tree yucca, Tree yucca
  • Height – Can grow to 40 feet tall
  • Type of tree – Evergreen
  • Leaves – Sharp edged, spiky, strap shaped and leathery
  • Flowers – Bell shaped, pungent, cream or yellow flowers in upright clusters
  • Fruit – Fleshy red-brown capsule
  • Bark – Grey – brown ridged
  • Family – Asparagaceae agava

Origins and Distribution of the Joshua Tree

  • Found in the rugged cowboy country deserts of North America.
  • Mojave desert where it may have been named by Mormon pioneers.

Uses and Attributes of the Joshua Tree

  • Native Americans wove the leaves into baskets.
  • Flowers and seeds are edible.
  • Settlers used the wood for fence posts

Joshua Tree Blooming

Gardeners Tips for the Joshua Tree

  • Unless you live in a desert give this tree a miss.

Other Varieties of Joshua Tree

  • Yucca brevifolia jaegeriana or Jaeger’s Joshua tree is also called the pygmy yucca .
  • Yucca brevifolia herbertii is also called Webber’s yucca or Herbert Joshua tree but both may two varieties of the same tree.
  • The Yucca family is a large genus in the Agaveacea group

Joshua Tree comments from elsewhere

  • The tree is pollinated by the yucca moth which is attracted by the flowers scent. The larvae then survive by eating the seeds. This seems self defeating but then there is little food in the desert.
  • Joshua Trees have a deep and extensive root system, with roots reaching up to 36 ft from the fibrous trunk

Joshua Trees in Winter

Credits
Joshua Tree by cybaea CC BY-SA 2.0 Joshua tree from the Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree Blooming by outdoorPDK CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Joshua Trees in Winter by Rennett Stowe CC BY 2.0

Comments are closed.