Which California national park is named for a distinctive desert tree species? The answer is Joshua Tree National Park.
The park takes its name from the Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia, a distinctive yucca native to the Mojave Desert. Its branching silhouette helped inspire the common name, although the exact origin is traditionally associated with 19th-century Mormon settlers who compared the tree’s limbs to the biblical Joshua reaching toward heaven.
Joshua Tree National Park lies where two deserts meet. The higher, cooler Mojave Desert supports Joshua trees, while the lower Colorado Desert is dominated by plants such as creosote bush. This sharp elevation change gives the park unusually varied habitats, from pinyon-juniper woodland to hot desert scrub and rugged granite formations.
The protected area began as Joshua Tree National Monument in 1936 and became a national park in 1994 through the California Desert Protection Act. A frequent mistake is assuming the trees grow throughout the park; they are chiefly associated with its Mojave Desert elevations.