Editing Yucca brevifolia (section)

== Uses and cultivation ==
Different forms of the species are cultivated, including smaller plants native to the eastern part of the species' range. These smaller plants grow 2.5 m tall and branch when about 1 m tall.<ref name="Harlow2003">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1mIlAQAAMAAJ |title=Wild lilies, irises, and grasses: gardening with California monocots |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-520-23849-7 |editor-last1=Harlow |editor-first1=Nora |location=Berkeley |page=215 |language=en |editor-last2=Jakob |editor-first2=Kristin}}</ref> [[Red-shafted flicker]]s make nests in the branches, which are later used by other birds.<ref name=Audubon>{{cite book |last=Little |first=Elbert L. |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region |year=1994 |orig-year=1980 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=0394507614 |edition=Chanticleer Press|page=329}}</ref> Despite being from a desert environment they can withstand temperatures as low as -18. They have also been planted in Denver, Colorado, suggesting they may be able to tolerate occasional temperatures as cold as -23 C.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Irish |first1=Mary |last2=Irish |first2=Mark |date=2000 |title=Agaves, Yuccas, and Related Plants : A Gardener's Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/agavesyuccasrela0000iris |url-access=registration |location=Portland, Oregon |publisher=Timber Press |page=240 |isbn=978-0-88192-442-8 |oclc=41966994 |access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref>

Before the twentieth century, Native Americans of the Mojave and western Sonoran Desert routinely used several parts of the Joshua tree as food and fiber (Cornett, J.W., 2018, Indian Uses of Desert Plants, Nature Trails Press, Palm Springs, CA). Leaf fibers were occasionally used to bind and manufacture sandals. Root sheaths were woven into baskets to add reddish-brown designs. Fruits were baked or boiled, then eaten. Seeds were ground into flour and mixed with flour from other plant species.  The flour was moistened with water, and the resulting paste was kneaded into cakes and dried.