Q 01/05

Joshua Tree National Park lies about 130 miles east of which big city?

A) Los Angeles

B) San Diego

C) Las Vegas

D) Phoenix

Answer · why

A) Los Angeles

It straddles Riverside and San Bernardino counties, with Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Indio among the nearest towns.

Q 02/05

The park straddles which two deserts?

A) Sonoran and Great Basin

B) Chihuahuan and Mojave

C) Mojave and Colorado

D) Painted and Sonoran

Answer · why

C) Mojave and Colorado

Elevation is the dividing line: the higher, cooler desert grows the namesake trees while the lower one below 3,000 feet is creosote, ocotillo and chol...

Q 03/05

The Joshua tree is actually what kind of plant?

A) A cactus

B) A yucca

C) A palm

D) A pine

Answer · why

B) A yucca

It is a monocot with no annual rings, so its age is hard to judge; the tallest reach about 49 feet.

Q 04/05

Which group is commonly credited with naming the Joshua tree after a biblical figure?

A) Spanish missionaries

B) Gold prospectors

C) Mormon settlers

D) Cahuilla elders

Answer · why

C) Mormon settlers

The story says the shape recalled Joshua raising his hands toward Canaan, though no contemporary record of the naming survives and the tale fits Moses...

Q 05/05

Which insect pollinates the Joshua tree, laying its eggs in the flowers as it does so?

A) Honeybee

B) Monarch butterfly

C) Yucca moth

D) Tarantula hawk wasp

Answer · why

C) Yucca moth

The larvae eat some seeds but leave enough to grow, and the tree can abort ovaries that carry too many eggs.