What Kind of Fruit Grows on a Joshua Tree?
The Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) is the largest of the yuccas and can live for 100 to 300 years. These evergreens grow in dry soils and reach a height between 15 and 40 feet. They are native to Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah. Does this Spark an idea?
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Fruit of the Joshua Tree
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The greenish-brown fruit of the Joshua Tree is oval and somewhat fleshy. The 2- to 4-inch-long fruit grows in clusters and is edible. According to "The Oxford Companion to Food," mature pods can be roasted and have a sweet, candy-like flavor. Each fruit contains many flat seeds, which are released on the ground when a fruit dries on the tree and falls to the ground in late spring.
Flowers and Pollination
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The flowers of the Joshua tree are bell-shaped, slightly longer than an inch and have six creamy, yellowish-green sepals. The flowers are grouped into clusters, have an unpleasant odor and blossom mostly in the spring. The Joshua Tree, like most yuccas, relies on a single species, the female pronuba moth, for pollination. No other animal transfers the tree's pollen. The moth lays her eggs in the flowers and the hatched larvae feed on the seeds contained in the fruit.
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Vegetative Reproduction
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Seeds produced from pollinated flowers are required to establish a new stand. However, old Joshua trees are able to sprout new plants from their roots.
Name Origin
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The Joshua tree was so named by early Mormon pioneers in California. The plant's outstretched branches reminded the Mormons of the biblical Joshua reaching to heaven.
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References
Resources
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