I set out with my friend and fellow photographer, Barry Stewart to get some pictures of the Joshua Tree forest near Wickenburg, Arizona. It’s roughly 1-1/2 hours northeast of Phoenix and a great place to get some photos of this very unusual tree. Joshua Trees, Yucca brevifolia, grow in the Mojave Desert of southwest California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, at elevations from 2,000 to 6,000 feet. Natural stands of this picturesque, spike-leafed evergreen grow nowhere else in the world. Its height varies from 15-40 feet with a diameter of 1-3 feet. Mormon pioneers are said to have named this species “Joshua” Tree because it looked like the Old Testament prophet Joshua waving them on with upraised arms, toward the promised land.
We were hoping to see the trees’ flowers in bloom but we appear to have been a little early. The Joshua Tree has bell-shaped blooms, 1.25 to 1.5 inches long, each with 6 creamy, yellow-green sepals, crowded into 12 to 18 inch clusters. The trees bloom mostly in the spring, although not all of them will flower annually. We’ll have to go back later.
This scene shows two mature, Joshua trees in the foreground, with an entire forest of them in the distance. The mountains in the background are part of the Wickenburg Range.
A closer look at this Joshua tree shows its unique structure. The trunk of a Joshua tree is made of thousands of small fibers and lacks annual growth rings, making it difficult to determine the tree’s age. This tree has a top-heavy branch system, but also has a deep and extensive root system, with roots reaching up to 11 m. in length. If it survives the rigors of the desert it can live for hundreds of years with some specimens living up to a thousand years.
One last picture that I particularly like.
Excellent work Peter. I am jealous; this looks like a photographers dream location!
Thank you, Jim. Your generous comments are very much appreciated. There are some great locations for photography in the area, but it’s still difficult to beat Alberta.