Mojave Desert
The flora of the Mojave desert are helpful in determining the extents of the Mojave desert where there may not be distinctive geophysical boundaries, the Mojave desert consists of various endemic plant species, notably the Joshua Tree, which is a particularly notable endemic and indicator species of the desert. There are more endemic flora of the Mojave desert than almost anywhere in the world. Mojave Desert flora is not a vegetation type, although the plants in the area have evolved in isolation because of the physical barriers of the Sierra Nevadas and the Colorado Plateau. Predominant plants of the Mojave desert include all-scale ("Atriplex polycarpa"), creosote bush ("Larrea tridentata"), brittlebush ("Encelia farinosa"), desert holly ("Atriplex hymenelytra"), white burrobush (Hymenoclea salsola), and most notably, the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia). Additionally, the Mojave desert is also home to various species of cacti, such as silver cholla ("Cylindropuntia echinocarpa"), Mojave prickly pear ("O. erinacea"), beavertail cactus ("O. basilaris"), and many-headed barrel cactus ("Echinocactus polycephalus"). Less common but distinctive plants of the Mojave desert include ironwood, ("Olneya" "tesota"), blue Palo Verde ("Parkinsonia Florida"), chuparosa ("Justicia californica"), spiny menodora ("Menodora spinescens"), desert senna ("Cassia armata"), California dalea ("Psorothamnus arborescens"), and goldenhead ("Acamptopappus shockleyi"). The Mojave desert is generally abundant in winter annuals. The plants of the Mojave desert each generally correspond to an individual geographic feature. As such, the Mojave desert has distinctive flora communities within the desert.