The prominent large plants with many thick branches are Joshua trees or Yucca brevifolia. The plant is found in Arizona, California, Nevada and the extreme southwest corner of Utah in the vast Mojave Desert region. Depending on local conditions the plants can live for hundreds and even a thousand years. It is difficult to imagine that so many desert plants are so long-lived. The plants were named by the early Mormon settlers who reportedly likened the plant to the Prophet Joshua reaching his hands up to the sky in prayer. The other prominent plants in the panorama consist mainly of creosote bushes and cholla cactus. This section of the Mojave Desert is location in northwest central Arizona just north of the town of Wickenburg. All plants are sensitive to elevation and thereby temperature changes and so as you drive through the desert and drive over the ridges the plant species change dramatically from one elevation to another.