The Plants of Joshua Tree NP

As I mentioned before, the park is a convergence of two deserts--the Mojave, which is higher elevation, and the Colorado.  And once you are paying attention, you notice that each desert is home to particular plant life.

The Joshua Tree can be found in abundance in the Mojave.  Interestingly enough, it's not a tree at all; it's part of the agave family and it's Latin name is "yucca brevifolia".   When you get up close to a downed tree, you see that the trunk is hollow and looks more like cactus. The tree is blooming at this time of year, and the blooms are really pretty.  They start tight and then open up to a beautiful bloom. 

Blooms just starting

Bloom opening

Full Bloom

You can also find yucca plants and pretty cactus in the Mojave.  

My favorite plant is found in the Colorado Desert.  It's called an Ocotillo.  It's a tall thorny plant that grows leaves and pretty red blossums when there is moisture around, like after a rainfall.  When it gets hot, it sheds its leave to conserve energy for the next rain. It looks dead, but it's really not.  

The Ocotillo with leaves was found behind our trailer.  The plants that look dead were seen while we were hiking. 

The Cholla cactus resides mostly in the Colorado Desert.  In fact, they have a whole "garden" of this cactus that you can walk through.  They are also called Jumping Cactus because you can get stuck by them if you're not paying attention to your whereabouts. 

Then just to keep things interesting, you will see palm oases scattered here and there throughout the park.    

We added lots of photos of the plant life in the park to H's Gallery.