Mini Meditations For Desert Lovers

:For the indigenous American tribe, see Mohave.

Category: Image - :Usgs mojave desert.jpg|right|thumb|Extent of Mojave Desert. Green square is the area of a survey made by the USGS which covers 25,000 square miles.

The Mojave Desert ( or ), ('Hayikwiir Mataar'Munro, P et al. A Mojave Dictionary Los Angeles: UCLA, 1992 in Mojave), locally referred to as the High Desert, occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States. Named after the Mohave tribe of Native Americans, it occupies well over in a typical Basin and Range topography.

The Mojave Deserts boundaries are generally defined by the presence of Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree) considered an indicator species for this desert. The topographical boundaries include the Tehachapi together with the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountain ranges. The mountain boundaries are quite distinct since they are outlined by the two largest faults in California: the San Andreas and the Garlock. The Great Basin shrub steppe lies to the north; the warmer Sonoran Desert (the Low Desert) lies to the south and east. The desert is believed to support between 1,750 and 2,000 species of plants.Mazzucchelli, Vincent G., 1967,"The Southern Limits of the Mohave Desert, California," The California Geographer, VIII: 127-133. This study provides original maps of the Mohave and adjacent deserts in the southwestern states.