slgwv's photos with the keyword: Joshua tree

A very large Joshua tree ( Yucca brevifola ) in the Mojave National Reserve, California. They don't usually have this many branches! The shrubs around it with the small dark yellowish-green leaves are creosote bush, another characteristic component of the Mojave floral assemblage. Joshua trees are supposed to have gotten their name from Mormon emigrants, who thought they looked like the prophet Joshua beckoning them onward. If Hollywood had filmed more Westerns in the Mojave back in the day, the Joshua tree, rather than the saguaro, might be an icon of the American West. As it is, they are prominent in the opening scenes of _The Right Stuff_, where Chuck Yeager was knocked off his horse by one. Edwards Air Force Base is in the Mojave and Joshua trees are locally abundant around it, so that's not poetic license! Map location is approximate.

With a little cholla for variety! Off the Fish Creek Valley road, very near the California-Nevada line. Looking east. The story is that Joshua trees got their name because Mormon emigrants thought they looked like the prophet Joshua beckoning them onward.

The ranges of sagebrush and juniper overlap commonly, but having the Joshua trees (the tall branching yucca) in there too is unusual! They're right at the edge of their range. I think that wintertime low temperatures are their limiting factor. This is just off Nevada state route 375, the so-called "Extraterrestrial Highway." This is where the Stealth was tested back in the eighties, and there were Unexplained Sightings... ;)

The ranges of sagebrush and juniper overlap commonly, but having the Joshua trees (the tall branching yucca) in there too is unusual! They're right at the edge of their range. I think that wintertime low temperatures are their limiting factor.

Looking into Eureka Valley with the Inyo Mountains beyond. California, USA. The Joshua tree, a large branching yucca, is found in southern California, southern Nevada, and a bit into adjacent Utah and Arizona. It isn't found in the driest areas on the valley floors, but on the lower slopes that get a bit more moisture. Had the early Hollywood filmmakers used settings in these areas, rather than southern Arizona, it would have become iconic of the West instead of the saguaro!

An improbable small natural lake in a southern Nevada valley.

Rhyolite, NV.

Near Mojave.