Joshua Tree
Yucca brevifolia · Plant
The Joshua tree is a tree-like yucca that defines the Mojave Desert landscape. It depends on a single partner, the yucca moth, for pollination.
Key facts
- Scientific name
- Yucca brevifolia
- Kind
- Plant
- Conservation status
- Not listed
- Habitat
- Desert
- Range
- Mojave Desert, southwestern United States
- Size
- Up to about 12 m tall
- Lifespan
- Often 150 years; some live for centuries
- Diet
- Photosynthesis
- Activity
- Evergreen · blooms in spring
- Population
- Restricted to the Mojave Desert
Diet
Stores water in its fibrous trunk and has deep and widespread roots to capture scarce rain.
Behavior
Yucca moths pollinate its flowers and lay their eggs inside; the larvae eat some seeds but leave enough for the tree to reproduce.
Classification
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Liliopsida
- Order
- Asparagales
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Genus
- Yucca
- Species
- Y. brevifolia
Conservation
Climate change is expected to shrink the area suitable for Joshua trees, and the 2020 Dome Fire killed an estimated 1.3 million of them.
Main threats
- Climate change
- Wildfire
- Development