How do joshua trees get their name?

Answer 1

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu4tRQaRGxVoBBSJXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTFhMWV0cDByBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDOARjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA1BSMDA1XzEwNwRsA1dTMQ--/SIG=11od3th2i/EXP=1185256145/**http%3a//www.nps.gov/moja/mojaanjt.htm

Answer 2

The name Joshua tree was given by a band of Mormons who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. The tree's unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky. Ranchers and miners who were contemporary with the Mormon immigrants also took advantage of the Y. brevifolia using the trunks and branches as fencing and for fuel for ore processing steam engines.

Answer 3

Which one?

The local natives had their own name -- hunuvat chiy’a

Some religious freak (among the Mormons) saw the Biblical Joshua in the shape (presumably, of a two-armed tree). It got it's current popular name from that incident, reportedly.

The botanical Latin name is,"Yucca brevifolia" -- (short-leaved Yucca, if my memory serves)

wsulliva