Joshua tree national park was named for its well known and unique Yucca Brevifolia, but they arent the most abundant Yucca in the Skull Rock area. There where the land begins to slope slightly into the Little San Bernardino Mountains, Yucca Schidigera, commonly called Mojave Yucca, holds that anthropoligical accolade.
Easily differentiated from Joshua Trees, Mojave Yucca does not grow multiple branching stalks and crowns, but rather a single trunk topped with a single larger crown of spikey serrated foliage. In the Skull Rock area, Mojave Yucca tends to grow in close clumps of several individuals, some of which may be dead skeletons. Y. Schidigera also has a visible fibrous filiments attached to their sharp yellow-green leaves, which were used by traditional desert cultures to render baskets, footwear, binding. The fruits were also eaten fresh, or ground into meal.
Although many in the Pinyon-Juniper biome share a findness for rocky slopes which provide some shelter from the desert winds, a close relative, Yucca Baccata, is rarely among them. In other areas of the park, their ranges overlap, and can prove difficult to discern. There are a few criteria, in that Y. Schidigera has a distinct trunk which becomes more prominent as it matures. Younger plants or hybrids may be more daunting to differentiate.
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