Yucca brevifolia
Yucca brevifolia with bud in California.
The Joshua tree lily or the Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia ), widely known under its English common name of Joshua Tree, is a species of the genus yucca (Yucca ) in the family of Agave ( Agavaceae ). The occurring mainly in the Mojave Desert of Joshua Tree National Parks reaches stature heights of up to 15 meters. Together with the Saguaro, Carnegiea gigantea they are the symbols of North American desert flora. Protected individuals are old in the San Bernardino National Forest and Joshua Tree National Monument over 900 years.
Its name comes from the plant by attracting members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons ), which compared the thin outstretched branches with the arms of the Old Testament popular leader Joshua instructed the Israelites the way to the promised land.
Description
The Joshua Tree grows solitary and forms a stem 5 to 15 meters in height. The stem at the base is 1 to 1.5 meters thick. He branched into 2 to 3 meters in height. The sword-shaped, toothed, green, concave on the underside of leaves are 15-40 cm long and 0.5 to 1.6 cm wide. The leaf margins are horny. The period beginning in the leaves, branched, erect or inclined to one side dense inflorescence is 0.2 to 0.5 meters high. The flowering period is from March to May The spherical to oval, white, cream-colored flowers are up to 3.5 cm long and 2 cm wide. Characteristic and unique in the genus is the crumbling of the ripe fruit. Specimens from the high mountain regions are hardy to minus 15 ° C. However, they are sensitive to moisture.
Dissemination
The Joshua Tree woodland is common in the USA in the states of California, Arizona and Utah in the Mojave Desert, the Sonoran Desert and the Great Basin desert plains, to rocky slopes and in Pinyon - Juniper in 800-2300 m altitude. It grows associated with Yucca schidigera, Yucca baccata, Yucca whipplei, Agave utahensis subsp. eborispina, Sclerocactus polyancistrus, Sclerocactus nyensis and numerous other cacti species.
System
The specific epithet is derived from the Latin brevifolia words " Brevis" (short) and " folius " ( blättig ) and means " kurzblättrig ".
The description by the American botanist George Engelmann was published in 1871 in the eight-volume work results for 1867 launched the U.S. geological expedition on the 40th Latitude ( Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel). There are or have been a number of synonyms in use:
- Cleistoyucca arborescens ( Torrey ) Trelease
- Cleistoyucca brevifolia ( Engelmann ) Rydberg
- Yucca arborescens ( Torrey ) Trelease
- Yucca draconis arborescens L. var Torrey
By Fritz Hochstätter following subspecies are distinguished:
- Yucca brevifolia subsp. brevifolia
- Yucca brevifolia subsp. jaegeriana ( McKelvey ) Hochstätter
- Yucca brevifolia subsp. herbertii ( Webber ) Hochstätter
She is the representative of the section Clistocarpa.
Pictures
Yucca brevifolia interesting shape with ripe fruits in Arizona
Yucca brevifolia in California with fruit.
In Scotty's Mountains, California
In Joshua Tree National Park.
In Joshua Tree National Park.
Others
The Irish rock band U2 named their 1987 published fifth studio album The Joshua Tree after striking plant. For the subject in the design of record covers, the band traveled in December 1986 with her photographer for three days in the desert of California. The specimen is dead in 2000 and now fallen.