What are those strange plants on the way to Las Vegas?

ONLY IN ARIZONA: OTHERWORLDLY JOSHUA TREES STARTLE WHEN YOU DON’T EXPECT TO SEE THEM IN THE LAND OF CHOLLAS, SAGUAROS, AND LITTLE WHITE CROSSES

Unless you’re from SoCal or fans of U2, you probably have never seen or heard of a Joshua tree.


Joshua trees, or their formal name Yucca brevifolia, are distinctly spiny plants that look like an agave on steroids. Picture those crazy Dr. Seuss-looking Lorax trees. They’re tall, bulky, prickly, otherworldly. Call 911, there are aliens near the highway at Wikieup. Then again, you may have wondered what the heck is that plant as you were on the way to Vegas, whizzing along State Route 93 between Wickenburg and Kingman, past thousands of expected saguaros, the craggy peaks of the McCloud and Black Mountains and all those little white crosses where drivers have careened off the road to their demise.


“Our visitors ask about the Joshua trees … and do not expect to see them here,” says Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce executive Julie Brooks, who is fifth generation native to the area. Read the full article from AZCentral.