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Desert Center in Riverside County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
 

Where Are The Joshua Trees?

Joshua Tree National Park

 
 
Where Are The Joshua Trees? Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, September 30, 2007
1. Where Are The Joshua Trees? Marker
(Inscription under the image on the left)
The Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia, can be distinguished by the short, spiky leaves growing on the end of the branches. In the park, some Joshua trees grow as tall as 40 feet.
Inscription. A common question asked by visitors entering Joshua Tree National Park through the southern entrance is “Where are the Joshua trees?” Sometime the Mojave yucca, a close relative is mistaken, for a Joshua tree. The reality is that Joshua trees do not grow in the southeastern part of the park.

Since it encompasses two deserts within its boundaries, Joshua Tree National Park is ecologically diverse. The higher, cooler Mojave Desert occupies the northwestern portion. To the southeast lies the Colorado Desert, sub district of the lower warmer Sonoran Desert, which stretches through southern Arizona and into Mexico. Although a few stands occur in the Great Basin deserts, the Joshua tree mainly grows between 3,000 and 6,700 feet in the Mojave Desert. Some the finest stands of Joshua trees are found in Joshua Tree National Park where the Mojave Desert reaches its southernmost point. The Mojave yucca is found in both Mojave and Colorado deserts.

It is believed that the Joshua tree originated in Mexico (a relative, the Yucca filifera, the largest yucca found grows in the southern Chihauhuan Desert of Mexico). Ancestors of today’s Joshua trees probably spread north around six million years ago and adapted to colder weather. In fact, Joshua trees, unlike Mojave yuccas, may need a few frosty nights in order to bloom
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and grow. According to some researchers, Joshua trees found here flower and branch only when their growing tip, or meristem, is damaged by frost or other stresses.
 
Erected by National Park Service United States Department of the Interior.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Horticulture & Forestry.
 
Location. 33° 44.91′ N, 115° 49.439′ W. Marker is in Desert Center, California, in Riverside County. Marker can be reached from Pinto Basin Road. The marker is on the grounds of the Cottonwood Visitor Center. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Desert Center CA 92239, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Barren or Bountiful (approx. 2.8 miles away); Young Divisional Camp (approx. 6.2 miles away); Desert Training Center (approx. 8.4 miles away); California-Arizona Maneuver Area (approx. 8.4 miles away); a different marker also named The Desert Training Center (approx. 8.4 miles away); a different marker also named Desert Training Center (approx. 8.4 miles away); Coachella Valley Recipients (approx. 8.4 miles away); Cannons (approx. 8.4 miles away).
 
Vista from the Cottonwood Visitor Center image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, September 30, 2007
2. Vista from the Cottonwood Visitor Center
Mohave Yucca-Yucca Schidigera image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, September 30, 2007
3. Mohave Yucca-Yucca Schidigera
Located on the back lot of the Cottonwood Visitor Center
Map of the Joshua Tree National Park image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, September 30, 2007
4. Map of the Joshua Tree National Park
Located at the Cottonwood Visitor Center
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on February 8, 2016, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 511 times since then and 34 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on February 8, 2016, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024