The Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia, is a giant member of the lily family. Like the California fan palm, Washingtonian filfera, the Joshua tree is a monocot, in the subgroup of flowering plants which also includes grasses and orchids. The Joshua tree provides a good indicator that you are in the Mojave Desert, but you may also find it growing next to a saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert in western Arizona or mixed with pines in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Years ago, the Joshua tree was recognized by Native Americans for its useful properties; tough leaves were worked into baskets and sandals, and raw or roasted flower buds and seeds made a healthy addition to the diet. The local Cahuilla tribe has long referred to the tree as “hunuvat chiy’a” or “humwichawa;” both names now rest with a few elders still fluent in the language.
By the mid 19th century, Mormon migrants had made their way across the Colorado River. Legend has it that these pioneers named the tree after the prophet Joshua, seeing the Joshua tree limbs outstretched in supplication, guiding the travelers westward. Concurrent with Mormon settlers, ranchers and miners arrived in the high desert with high hopes of raising cattle and digging for gold. These homesteaders used the Joshua tree’s limbs and trunks for fencing and corrals. Miners found a source of fuel for the steam engines used in processing ore.
Today we enjoy this yucca for its grotesque appearance, a surprising sight in the landscape of biological interest. The Joshua tree’s life cycle begins with the rare germination of a seed, its survival dependent upon well timed rains. Young sprouts may grow several inches in the first five years, then slow down, averaging one half inch per year thereafter. The tallest Joshua tree in the park looms a whopping forty feet high, a grand presence in the Queen Valley forest; it is estimated to be over nine hundred years old. These “trees” do not have growth rings like you would find in an oak or pine. This makes aging difficult, but you can divide the height of a Joshua tree by the average annual growth of one half inch to get a rough estimate.
Spring rains may bring clusters of white green flowers on the long stocks at branch tips. Like all desert blooms, Joshua trees depend on just the perfect conditions: well timed rains and for the Joshua tree, a crisp winter freeze. Researchers believe that below freezing temperatures may damage the growing end of a branch and stimulate flowering followed by branching. Some Joshua trees grow straight stalks; these trees have never bloomed, which is why they are branchless. In additions to ideal weather, the pollination of flowers requires a visit from the yucca moth. The moth collects pollen while laying her eggs inside the flower ovary. As seeds develop and mature, the eggs hatch into larva which feed on the seeds. The tree relies on the moth for pollination and the moth relies on the tree for a few seeds for her young, a happy symbiosis. The Joshua tree is also capable of sprouting from roots and branches. Being able to reproduce vegetative allows a much quicker recovery after damaging floods or fires which may kill the main tree.
Many birds, mammals, reptiles and insects depend on the Joshua tree for food and shelter. Keep your eyes open for the yellow and black flash of a Scott’s oriole busy making a nest in the yucca branches. At the base of rocks you may find a wood rat nest built with protective spiny yucca leaves. As evening falls, the desert night lizard begins poking around under the log of a fallen Joshua tree in search of tasty insects.
The Joshua tree is and important part of the Mojave Desert ecosystem, providing habitats for numerous birds, mammals, insects and lizards. Joshua tree forests tell a story of survival, resilience, and beauty borne through perseverance.

A member of the Pea Family (Fabaceae), the Smoke Tree derives its name from its plume-like growth and golden color, which give the tree the appearance of smoke. The Smoke Tree is a spiny, intricately branched shrub or tree that grows to a height of 20 feet. It has a small, crooked trunk with scaly, gray-brown bark. It has a compact crown of smoky gray branches and twigs with dense, pressed hairs and many small gland-dots.
The Smoke Tree’s tiny, stalkless leaves are 1/8 by 1/2 inches and appear for only a few weeks each spring before the tree flowers. The leaves are gray, very hairy and have gland-dots and wavy edges. But since the leaves appear for only a few weeks each year, the smoky gray twigs must produce most of the plant’s food by conducting photosynthesis themselves.
Because Smoke Trees require relatively abundant water, they are often found along sandy or gravelly flats, arroyos and washes, often with Creosote Bush, from elevations below sea level to 1500 feet.
Half-inch, dark purple or violet flowers grow in 1 1/2-inch clusters along leafless twigs. These colorful, pea-like flowers bloom in late spring and early summer.
A small, hairy, egg-shaped pod ending in a point contains one brown, bean-like seed which matures in late summer but does not open. The pod itself is covered with fine, grayish-white hairs.

The legendary roadrunner is famous for its distinctive appearance, its ability to eat rattlesnakes and its preference for scooting across the American deserts, as popularized in Warner Brothers.
a large, black-and-white, mottled ground bird with a distinctive head crest. It has strong feet, a long, white-tipped tail and an oversized bill.

It ranges in length from 20 to 24 inches from the tip of its tail to the end of its beak. It is a member of the Cuckoo family (Cuculidae), characterized by feet with 2 forward toes and 2 behind.

When the roadrunner senses danger or is traveling downhill, it flies, revealing short, rounded wings with a white crescent. But it cannot keep its large body airborne for more than a few seconds, and so prefers walking or running (up to 17 miles per hour) usually with a clownish gait.
Behavior

The roadrunner is uniquely suited to a desert environment by a number of physiological and behavioral adaptations:

Its carnivorous habits offer it a large supply of very moist food.
It reabsorbs water from its feces before excretion.
A nasal gland eliminates excess salt, instead of using the urinary tract like most birds.
It reduces its activity 50% during the heat of midday.
Its extreme quickness allows it to snatch a humming bird or dragonfly from midair.

Habitat

The roadrunner inhabits open, flat or rolling terrain with scattered cover of dry brush, chaparral or other desert scrub.

Food & Hunting

The roadrunner feeds almost exclusively on other animals, including insects, scorpions, lizards, snakes, rodents and other birds. Up to 10 % of its winter diet may consist of plant material due to the scarcity of desert animals at that time of the year.

Because of its lightening quickness, the roadrunner is one of the few animals that preys upon rattlesnakes. Using its wings like a matador’s cape, it snaps up a coiled rattlesnake by the tail, cracks it like a whip and repeatedly slams its head against the ground till dead.

It then swallows its prey whole, but is often unable to swallow the entire length at one time. This does not stop the roadrunner from its normal routine. It will continue to meander about with the snake dangling from its mouth, consuming another inch or two as the snake slowly digests.

The coyote is a member of the dog family. In size and shape the coyote is like a medium-sized Collie dog, but its tail is round and bushy and is carried straight out below the level of its back.
Coyotes found in low deserts and valleys weigh about 20 pounds, less than half of their mountain kin, who can weigh up to 50 pounds. Desert Coyotes are light gray or tan with a black tip on the tail.
The coyote is one of the few wild animals whose vocalizations are commonly heard. At night coyotes both howl (a high quavering cry) and emit a series of short, high-pitched yips. Howls are used to keep in touch with other coyotes in the area. Sometimes, when it is first heard, the listener may experience a tingling fear of primitive danger, but to the seasoned outdoorsman, the howl of the coyote is truly a song of the West.
Howling
- communication with others in the area. Also, an announcement that “I am here and this is my area. Other males are invited to stay away but females are welcome to follow the sound of my voice. Please answer and let me know where you are so we don’t have any unwanted conflicts.”
Yelping
- a celebration or criticism within a small group of coyotes. Often heard during play among pups or young animals.
Bark
- The scientific name for coyotes means “Barking dog,” Canis latrans. The bark is thought to be a threat display when a coyote is protecting a den or a kill.
Huffing
- is usually used for calling pups without making a great deal of noise.
One of the most adaptable animals in the world, the coyote can change its breeding habits, diet and social dynamics to survive in a wide variety of habitats.

Alone, in pairs or in packs, coyotes maintain their territories by marking them with urine. They also use calls to defend this territory, as well as for strengthening social bonds and general communication. Coyotes can easily leap an 8 foot fence or wall. They have been spotted climbing over a 14 foot cyclone fence. The coyote is an opportunistic predator that uses a variety of hunting techniques to catch small mammals likes rabbits and squirrels and even insects.
The coyote often tracks its prey using its excellent sense of smell, then stalks it for 20-30 minutes before pouncing. It may also take advantage of its stamina to chase its prey over long distances, and then strike when the quarry is exhausted.
In the dry season they may try to dig for water or find a cattle tank to have a drink. They also derive moisture from their diet. Everything they eat has some moisture in it. There are also the Coyote Melons which grow in the desert. To humans, they taste terrible but they provide moisture and coyotes and javelina are about the only animals that eat them. Urban coyotes do take advantage of swimming pools, dog water dishes, ponds and water hazards at golf courses and other water bearing human artifacts as a source of moisture. However, the majority of coyotes never see people.