Down here we have cholla, barrel cactus and Joshua trees. Now, Joshua trees, Yucca brevifolia , are about the last tree in the world you would associate with Utah. Found only in this tiny corner of the state, Joshua Trees can live to be 200 years old. Early Mormon settlers called them 'Joshua' because they seem to lift their arms in praise as did the Biblical Joshua. On the Beaver Dam slope, which leads downhill to Arizona and Nevada, old trees stand on desert slopes like patriarchal grandfathers, frazzled with arms and tufted, yellowed sharp leaves.
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.