This year has been a banner year to view the Joshua in bloom as the moisture content was perfect and large blooms are now present in most of the Mojave Desert that we have visited. The Joshua Tree has bell-shaped blooms, 1.25 to 1.5 inches large, each with 6 creamy, yellow-green sepals, crowded into 12 to 18 inch, many-branched clusters with an unpleasant odor. The trees bloom mostly in the spring, although not all of them will flower annually. Joshua Trees (and most other yuccas) rely on the female Pronuba Moth for pollination. No other insect or animal visiting the blooms transfers the pollen from one flower to another. In fact, the female Yucca Moth has evolved special organs to collect and distribute the pollen onto the surface of the flower. She lays her eggs in the flowers' ovaries, and when the larvae hatch, they feed on the yucca seeds. Without the moth's pollination, the Joshua Tree could not reproduce, nor could the moth, whose larvae would have no seeds to eat. Although an old Joshua Trees can sprout new plants from its roots, only the seeds produced in pollinated flowers can scatter far enough to establish a new stand. The fruit is elliptical and green-brown and can be seen in photo 4, a photo taken at night to better show the fruit. Six-celled, 2.5 to 4 inches, and somewhat fleshy, it dries and falls soon after maturity in late spring revealing many flat seeds. The last photo is of the Joshua and Yucca plants before bloom.

[Bob Harris]

Bob, thanks so much for posting these. The first shot is really outstanding. As you know, we would love to make it out there at this time of year to see them in bloom but you are a close second. OK, maybe not that close but you will have to do. Looks like we aren't going to make it west this summer either. The repair facility we take our 5er to dropped it on the truck. He is blaming Reese and Reese is blaming anyone but them. They were driving the unit but looks like our insurance is going to get stuck paying anyway. Feel like we will be cooped up at home forever so send me some more cactus images to cheer me up.

How great is that, you take your rig in and they break it. Hope there was no structural damage to speak of, what a bummer for you guys.