Young plants consist of a single stem which has one growing point. After it produces a flower stalk, that point dies and the stem does not grow any more. But the plant responds by branching - by sprouting a new stem near the tip of the old one. The Joshua Tree is home to as many as 25 different species of birds. Scott's orioles hang their nests from the short, stiff leaves.
Northern flickers excavate nest holes in the trunks, which other birds later occupy.
Fallen branches, as they decay, are consumed by termites, which in turn are eaten by night lizards, who live under the protective cover of the Joshua tree bark. Next to the Joshua trees in this sublime afternoon sun are clusters of sweet-smelling creosote and desert agave. The agave, often found in the shadows of the Joshua tree here on the Beaver Dam slope, live most of their life as a low cluster of leaves. Then, once about every 30 years, a flowing stalk shoots up about ten feet in the air in a brilliant display of flowers and humming bees. Then, after the season is over, the stalk withers and yellows and the plant is done flowering.