Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • A detailed look from above at a beavertail cactus in Joshua Tree National Park. This photograph was taken  in early April just after the spring rains when the plants of the desert burst into color and blossom.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • This tiny daisy grows in many of the hottest, most arid deserts of the American Southwest in sand, gravel and scattered rocks. Easily identified by both it's dimunitative size and choice of habitat, close inspection of the foliage reveals a very wooly, hairy hovering of silvery hairs on the leaves and stem. This was one of many found in an open area in the Mojave Desert in Southern California.
    Wallace's Woolly Daisy
  • Like many cacti of the American Southwest, cacti are often found around piles of rocks, perhaps they once sheltered the tiny seedling from wind and rain. This beavertail cactus in the Mojave Desert is off to a good start. Many of this species reach a height of six feet and a base of about twelve feet across.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • There is no mistaking the beavertail cactus. Named because of the pads, the grey-green color is a dead giveaway. There are a dozen or more subspecies, so there are slight variations based on location, elevations, etc. Generally the flowers are this bright fuchsia, but some other naturally occurring varieties have equally bright yellow flowers.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • Closeup of the brilliantly colored beavertail cactus growing in the Majave Desert of Southern California.
    Beavertail Cactus
  • The common Raven is found all throughout Canada and across North and Central America's West Coast. This one was following me around the Mojave Desert as I was photographing lizards, wildflowers and cacti in Southern California.
    Common Raven
  • Probably the most famous Southwest American yucca, the Joshua tree has been a symbol of various religions and cultures for thousands of years. This one was photographed inside of Joshua Tree National Park in southern California, although I've seen them growing in great abundance in both Southern Nevada and Northwestern Arizona.
    Joshua Tree
  • There are a couple places in the American Southwest where you can see the Joshua tree in large numbers. This one was photographed in Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.
    Joshua Tree
  • The Joshua tree is the king of the Mojave desert. Reaching upward to 30'-40' tall, it is also losing habitat quickly. Luckily a few healthy and dense pockets still exist in Southern California such as these in the Joshua Tree National Park.
    Joshua Tree
  • The Joshua tree, symbol of the Mojave desert, reaches out into the blue early April sky. One reason it is believed that this iconic yucca is losing habitat, and declining in numbers is in the fossil record of the recent extinction (in geological years) of the Shasta ground sloth, one of the giant sloths that went the way of the mammoths and other American megafauna. Fossilized scat shows the remains of the seeds, leaves and pulp of joshua trees... and was possibly in a loose symbiotic relationship with it as to provide food in return for seed propagation.
    Joshua Tree
  • Considered to be one of the desert's oldest living plants, a mature Joshua tree is believed to be between 150-300 years old, and one specimen that reached a height of a whopping 60 feet was believed to have been about 1000 years old! This much younger one was photographed in Southern California's Mojave Desert.
    Joshua Tree
  • These ripe fruits of the Joshua tree range in size from 2-4 inches, and are clustered on the tall flower "spikes" that can be from 12-60 inches from the center of the rosette where new leaves form. These were photographed from below with a nice morning golden light in the Mojave Desert in Southern California.
    Fruit of the Joshua Tree