Yucca brevifolia

Western joshua tree

Family: Agavaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Western joshua tree is a California native shrub found in southern Sierra Nevada eastern slopes, Tehachapi, eastern Sierra Nevada, and Mojave Desert in desert flats and slopes at elevations of 400 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces cream-colored flowers in large spheric clusters that partially open, with parts curved inward. Growing 6 to 9 meters tall with an erect trunk that branches 1 to 3 meters above the base, it forms distinctive rosettes at branch tips. Its dark green leaves are 15 to 35 centimeters long, with a white expanded base 3 to 6 centimeters wide and minute yellow-serrate margins. The plant produces large ovoid capsules 5 to 10 centimeters long that spread or stand erect as they mature.

Habitat: Desert flats, slopes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 400-2300 m

Bioregions: s SNH (e slope), Teh, e SNE, DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Los Angeles, Kern, Riverside, Mono

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.