El Mirage Dry Lake - Joshua tree

[abraxas]

Joshua tree near sunset

Joshua trees & creosote

 

[LaFoto]

So it is the TREE, anywhere where THIS sort of tree can be found, that is called Joshua tree? It is not an area? For I remember there have been TPF meet-ups in a PLACE called Joshua tree, isn't it so? And there then were MANY of these trees! Interesting trees in my eyes. Exotic to me.
You really get some sweet, sweet light where you are. Lovely colours, contrasts ... and I really like the chosen DOF in the last. The long cloud provides a nice frame, too.

 

[abraxas]

Wow, I get it- I'm very slow.

Joshua Tree National Park is where the meet up probably was. I mentioned in another post that I may have ran across the meetup at Cap Rock, during a botany class.

Joshua Tree NP was named after the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia). Odd and grotesque, yet beautiful to some. The tree (some say a giant lily) is the predominant indicator plant species of the Mojave (Mo-HAH-vee) Desert. The Joshua tree is named after the bibical character, Joshua. Mormon pioneers called it such because they claimed it looked as if Joshua were raising outstretched arms to heaven.

Large Joshua tree forests can be found not only at Joshua Tree NP, but in the Mojave Preserve, Death Valley National Park and in the Sandy Valley in western Arizona as well as Nevada.

I moved to the desert because I liked the trees. Most newcomers moving to the desert hate them and want them obliterated.

Some parts can be eaten and are quite tasty- but this is not something to do at the NP.

The trees, previously thought to live as long as 1,000 years, actually have a life span of only 200-300 years. They grow relatively fast at first (maybe a foot a year for the first 10-12 years, then only a few inches a year.

They reproduce by either a sort of cloning (pieces break off) or are fertilized by the Yucca moth. The moth will lay its eggs in a blossom, fertilizing the seeds that develop within pods. The Yucca moth also bears the sole responsibility for the way the trees are formed. Each time the moths eggs hatch into caterpillars, they eat at the base of the blossom frond. When this happens, two new branches form.

Over the last 10 years I've been working on a variety of web sites that sort of half-asked explain/show the mojave. There's probably 25,000 photos (grainy, etc ) online at both http://digital-desert.com and http://mojavedesert.net

I've let things beat me down the last year or so and haven't kept it too up to date or attempted to organize it. I just like going out and taking pictures anymore.

Here's a link to Joshua Tree National Park (at least the way I see it);

http://digital-desert.com/joshua-tree-national-park/

The northwest portion of the park is within the southern Mojave Desert;

http://mojavedesert.net/description.html