What do female yucca moths do with pollen?

Pack it into the flower deliberately

What kind of relationship is this?

A partnership neither can survive without

What threatens Joshua trees today?

Wildfires and a hotter, drier climate

Joshua Tree Quiz: Yucca Moths and Mojave Desert Giants

This Joshua tree quiz walks through the spiky forests of the Mojave Desert. Play 10 interactive questions on a giant yucca, the settlers who named it, yucca moths that pack pollen into flowers, larvae that eat some seeds, a partnership neither can live without, slow growth, Joshua Tree National Park, wildfires and climate threats.

Start Joshua Tree Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Desert
Which desert is home to Joshua trees?
Type
What kind of plant is a Joshua tree?
Name
Who named the Joshua tree?
Moth
Which insect pollinates Joshua trees?
Pack
What do female yucca moths do with pollen?
Eggs
Where do yucca moths lay eggs?
Bond
What kind of relationship is this?
Growth
How fast do Joshua trees grow?
Park
Which national park is named after the tree?
Threats
What threatens Joshua trees today?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which desert is home to Joshua trees?
Answer: Mojave Desert
It spans parts of California and Nevada.
Q2: What kind of plant is a Joshua tree?
Answer: A giant yucca
Its name is Yucca brevifolia.
Q3: Who named the Joshua tree?
Answer: Mormon settlers
They saw raised arms in its branches.
Q4: Which insect pollinates Joshua trees?
Answer: Yucca moths
No other pollinator does the job.
Q5: What do female yucca moths do with pollen?
Answer: Pack it into the flower deliberately
It is unusual behavior.
Q6: Where do yucca moths lay eggs?
Answer: Inside the flower's ovary
Larvae eat some seeds.
Q7: What kind of relationship is this?
Answer: A partnership neither can survive without
Both depend on each other.
Q8: How fast do Joshua trees grow?
Answer: Very slowly
They can live for centuries.
Q9: Which national park is named after the tree?
Answer: Joshua Tree National Park
It became a park in 1994.
Q10: What threatens Joshua trees today?
Answer: Wildfires and a hotter, drier climate
Seedlings struggle in drought.

Desert Giants and Their Moths

Joshua trees grow in the Mojave Desert of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. Though tree-like, they are giant yuccas, Yucca brevifolia. Mormon settlers named them in the 1800s, saying the branches reminded them of the biblical Joshua raising his arms.

Joshua trees depend on yucca moths for pollination. A female moth collects pollen, then deliberately packs it into another flower's stigma and lays eggs inside the ovary. The larvae eat some of the developing seeds, but many survive. Neither the tree nor the moth can reproduce without the other.

Joshua trees grow very slowly and can live for centuries. Joshua Tree National Park, protected as a park since 1994, draws climbers and stargazers. Wildfires fueled by invasive grasses, and a hotter, drier climate that makes seedlings struggle, threaten their future.

What This Quiz Teaches

Plant fans will enjoy these questions.

Where Joshua trees grow
How they got their name
How moths pollinate them
How they grow
What threatens them

Did You Know?

Birds nest among spiky leaves.
Flowers are creamy white.
Branches form after flowering.
Night lizards live in fallen logs.
U2 named an album after the tree.