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Yucca brevifolia
Also called Western Joshua Tree, Yucca
The Joshua tree is a slow-growing, tree-like yucca from the Mojave Desert that branches into spiky, candle-like clusters. It needs full sun, excellent drainage and very little water to thrive.
Yucca brevifolia, commonly known as the Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, or palm tree yucca, is a plant species belonging to the genus Yucca.
This monocotyledonous tree is native to the arid Southwestern United States (specifically California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada), and northwestern Mexico. It is confined mostly to the Mojave Desert between 400 and 1,800 m (1,300 and 5,900 ft) elevation. It thrives in the open grasslands of Queen Valley and Lost Horse Valley in Joshua Tree National Park. Other regions with a large population of the trees can be found northeast of Kingman, Arizona, in Mohave County; and along U.S. 93 just south of the community of Meadview, Arizona, a route which has been designated the Joshua Tree Parkway of Arizona.
Different forms of the species are cultivated, including smaller plants native to the eastern part of the species's range. These smaller plants grow 2.5 meters (8 ft 2 in) tall and branch when about one meter (3 ft 3 in) tall. Red-shafted flickers make nests in the branches, which are later used by other birds. Despite being from a desert environment they can withstand temperatures as low as −18 °C (0 °F). They have also been planted in Denver, Colorado, suggesting they may be able to tolerate occasional temperatures as cold as −23 °C (−9 °F).
Before the twentieth century, Native Americans of the Mojave and western Sonoran Desert routinely used several parts of the Joshua tree as food and fiber. Leaf fibers were occasionally used to bind and manufacture sandals. Root sheaths were woven into baskets to add reddish-brown designs. Fruits were baked or boiled, then eaten. Seeds were ground into flour and mixed with flour from other plant species. The flour was moistened with water, and the resulting paste was kneaded into cakes and dried.
The Joshua tree is native to the southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah) and northwestern Mexico. This range mostly coincides with the geographical reach of the Mojave Desert, where it is considered one of the major indicator species for the desert. It occurs at elevations between 400 and 1,800 m (1,300 and 5,900 ft).
Aloe yucca · Narrowleaf yucca · Banana yucca · Adam's needle · Weak-leaf yucca · Giant yucca · Soapweed yucca · Curve-leaf yucca · Moundlily yucca · Mojave yucca · Schott's yucca · Torrey's yucca
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Yucca brevifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
