OtterKnow Kids EncyclopediaJoshua trees are some of the strangest and most wonderful plants you will ever see! They have twisty, bumpy branches that reach up and out in every direction. There is even a famous national park named after them called Joshua Tree National Park!
Each branch ends in a clump of pointy, spiky leaves that look like shaggy green hair. Joshua trees can grow to be about 40 feet tall, which is as high as a four-story building. These amazing plants got their name from settlers who thought the branches looked like arms reaching up to the sky.
- Even though they are called “trees,” Joshua trees are not really trees at all.
- They are actually a type of yucca plant!
- They depend on a special moth, called the yucca moth, to help them make seeds.
- Some Joshua trees are over 300 years old!
