Joshua Tree

This picture taken of the Joshua Tree on Park Boulevard near Sheep Pass in the Joshua Tree National Park, California.  There are many different stories on why these trees were called Joshua but none that can be verified.  We do know that the Mormons settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century gave them there name.  The Joshua tree is not a true tree in that it does not produce a trunk with annual rings.  This makes it nearly impossible to know the age of the tree.  The first several years of its life it grows only vertical with no branches.  Once branches form it will only grow approximately a inch a year to a typical height of over 20 feet.  Those people in the know say that the oldest living Joshua Tree is close to 1000 years old and stands over 40 feet tall.  A frequent visitor over the past few years describes this place as walking into a Dr. Seuss book.