How does tumble weed tumble, and what is it anyway?

Question

Had a road trip a few years back and saw some truly gigantic tumble weed taller than a car "tumbling" across the high way, and was deeply fascinated by their unusual structure. Before I only see them in National Geographic. Can anyone tell me as much info as possible?? Thanks

Answer 1

"Tumbleweed," "Russian thistle" and "wind witch" are common names for this symbol of the American west. Russian thistle alludes to its Eurasian origin. Scientific names for tumbleweed include Salsola kali, S. pestifer, S. australis, S. iberica, and S. tragus. Salsola is derived from the Latin sallere, "to salt," in reference to the plant’s salt tolerance. There does not yet appear to be a consensus on the preferred scientific name, although S. tragus is the leading candidate for the inland variety of tumbleweed and S. kali, for the more coastal variety.

Description

Virtually everyone recognizes mature the Russian thistle, which looks like the skeleton of a normal shrub. Plants may be as small as a soccer ball or as large as a Volkswagen beetle. Most people, however, would fail to recognize the seedling and juvenile plant’s bright green, succulent, grass-like shoots, which are usually red or purple striped. Inconspicuous green flowers grow at axils (where leaf branches off of stem) of the upper leaves, each one accompanied by a pair of spiny bracts. Mice, bighorn sheep and pronghorn eat the tender shoots.

Habits/Habitats

As it rolls down a desert road, a Russian thistle plants do what they do best, disperse seeds, which typically number 250,000 per plant. Seeds are unusual in that they lack any protective coat or stored food reserves. Instead, each seed is a coiled, embryonic plant wrapped in a thin membrane. To survive winter without a warm coat, the plant does not germinate until warm weather arrives.

When moisture falls, the plant is ready to uncoil and germinate. All that is required are temperatures between 28 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. It then quickly sends up two needle-like leaves and begins to shoot skyward. By autumn the plant has reached maximum size, flowered and begun to dry out. A specialized layer of cells in the stem facilitates the easy break between plant and root, and the journey begins anew.

Like many invasive weeds, Russian thistle exploited the destruction of native ecosystems. When farmers removed prairie grasses, they created a perfect environment, smooth and flat, for a plant that could roll across the landscape dispersing seeds. Herbicides now control the spread of Russian thistle by disrupting the maturation process of the plant.

Range

Although tumbleweed is native to the arid steppes of the Ural Mountains in Russia, it is now ubiquitous throughout the western states, growing in disturbed soils such as agricultural fields, irrigation canals and roadside shoulders and ditches. Plants thrive in salty and alkaline soils but will generally be outcompeted by natives in undisturbed habitats. Elevation range is from below sea level in Death Valley to over 8500 feet.

Tumbleweeds were first reported in the United States around 1877 in Bon Homme County, South Dakota, apparently transported in flax seed imported by Ukrainian farmers. Within two decades it had tumbled into a dozen states, and by 1900, it had reached the Pacific Coast.

The peregrinating (highly traveled) plant also grows abundantly in Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, Greece, Hawaii, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa and Turkey.

Notes

The Sons of Pioneers made the song Tumbling Tumbleweeds popular in the 1940’s.

A severe drought in the 1930’s in Canada led farmers to use young tumbleweeds as hay and silage for livestock.



David B. Williams








Salsola
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iSalsola


Salsola tragus, habit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Caryophyllales

Family: Amaranthaceae

Subfamily: Salsoloideae

Genus: Salsola
L.

Species
About 100-130 species; see text

Salsola (Saltwort*, Tumbleweed or Russian thistle) is a genus of herbs, subshrubs, shrubs and small trees in the family Amaranthaceae, native to Africa, Asia, and Europe. They typically grow on flat, often dry and/or somewhat saline soils, with some species in saltmarshes. Recent genetic studies (Pyankov et al., 2001) have however shown that the genus as traditionally circumscribed is paraphyletic, and many species are likely to be transferred to other genera in the future.
* Note that the name Saltwort is also used for the unrelated genus Batis.


A wind-blown tumbleweed caught against a fenceIn several annual species, those known popularly as "tumbleweeds", the plants break away from their roots in the autumn, and are driven by the wind as a light, rolling mass, scattering seed far and wide. The seeds are produced in such large numbers that the plant has not evolved protective coatings or food reserves for the coiled plant embryos.

Contents [hide]
1 Salsola as invasive species
2 Salsola as food
3 References and external links
4 List of Species



[edit] Salsola as invasive species
Several species, but most notably the central Asian S. tragus, are invasive outside their native range. They have become particularly abundant in parts of North America, where they are listed as noxious weeds by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The salt-tolerant genus was first reported in the United States around 1877 in Bon Homme County, South Dakota, apparently transported as a stowaway in flax seed imported by Ukrainian farmers. South Dakota proved too harsh and dry for growing flax, but by 1900, Salsola had colonised as far west as the Pacific Coast. It was also actively introduced by the U.S.D.A., under the impression that cattle might be induced to eat it in hard times during droughts. Palatability of the young shoots is considered to be fair. Cattle, sheep, and horses will eat it, if nothing better is available. Small rodents and Pronghorn also graze on the young shoots. Tumbleweed thrives wherever land use has disturbed the soil. It can be seen in Death Valley, California and in Colorado at elevations of 8500 feet (2600 meters).

Tumbleweed has naturalized to the point where it is regarded by many American people as native, changing the North American Great Plains plant community forever. It is controlled with mass applications of herbicides. Amusingly, tumbleweed is such a common symbol in Westerns, where it is used to indicate an abandoned area, that it is generally associated with the American Old West, and western films, despite its Ukrainian origin. "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" was a hit for the cowboy singing group Sons of the Pioneers:

"See them tumbling down
Pledging their love to the ground
Lonely but free I'll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumble weed
Tumbleweed breaks away from its roots in the autumn, and is driven by the wind, as a light, rolling mass, over the fields and prairies, scattering its seeds far and wide. Prairie tumbleweed produces its seeds in such profusion that the plant has not evolved protective coatings or food reserves for the coiled plant embryos. The deep, ineradicable taproot survives to grow again the following season.

Salsola species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including The Nutmeg and the Coleophora case-bearers C. klimeschiella, C. parthenica, C. poeciliella (recorded on S. oppositifolia) and C. salsolella (feeds exclusively on S. vermiculata).


[edit] Salsola as food
The leaves and shoots of many species are edible, especially when young and tender, and some are grown as vegetables, often used for salads, sushi, or as a garnish. The most commonly eaten European species is Salsola soda known in Italy as Barba di Frate. In Japan, S. komarovii is a crop of moderate importance, known locally as okahijiki (literally "land hijiki").

The seeds are also edible, although difficult to collect in quantity, and are sometimes ground into flour.


[edit] References and external links
Pyankov, V. I., Artyusheva, E. G., Edwards, G. E., Black, C. C., & Soltis, P. S. Phylogenetic analysis of tribe Salsoleae of Chenopodiaceae based on ribosomal ITS sequences: Implications for the evolution of photosynthesis types. Amer. J. Bot. 88: 1189-1198 (2001). Available online here.

Answer 2

I live here in New Mexico and we have plenty of tumbleweeds out here. I can't tell you exactly what kind of the plant this weed is but suffice is to say it is a weed. Some people are highly alergic to this weed and they grow almost anywhere there is some bare soil and with very little water. These weeds grow extremely fast and kind of have the texture of a sea sponge. However, they are not soft and cuddly in their green state, in fact they have prickles that when you touch them, irritate your skin. After they reach maturity, they dry out completely and are still extremely prickly. A few months a year, normally in the spring, we have our windy season, and this is the time when the wind rips these dead weeds out of the ground and sends them tumbling around the landscape and across roads like you have witnessed. There's a method to their madness, for as they tumble, they spread their seeds wherever they go, thus insuring a new crop of weeds the next season. We have people here who actually collect them in the winter time, build "weedmen" (similar to a snowman) out of them and flock them like you do with an artificial X-mas tree and put them on display in their yards. Hope this helps answer your question a bit.

Answer 3

You would only think of tumble weeds in a dessert or dry climate, but I have seen a few in my life time in MN. It is just a dried plant, bush type. It just dried out and round and rolls in the wind. Tumble weed isn't a type of plant, it is what a plant does. That is why you can see different sizes, because the plants are different.

A weed is (any) plant that someone finds unattractive or not to their taste. Even a rose can be a weed to some people.

Answer 4

The following is from Wikipedia:

"Salsola (Saltwort*, Tumbleweed or Russian thistle) is a genus of herbs, subshrubs, shrubs and small trees in the family Amaranthaceae, native to Africa, Asia, and Europe. They typically grow on flat, often dry and/or somewhat saline soils, with some species in saltmarshes. Recent genetic studies (Pyankov et al., 2001) have however shown that the genus as traditionally circumscribed is paraphyletic, and many species are likely to be transferred to other genera in the future.
* Note that the name Saltwort is also used for the unrelated genus Batis.


A wind-blown tumbleweed caught against a fenceIn several annual species, those known popularly as "tumbleweeds", the plants break away from their roots in the autumn, and are driven by the wind as a light, rolling mass, scattering seed far and wide. The seeds are produced in such large numbers that the plant has not evolved protective coatings or food reserves for the coiled plant embryos."

Answer 5

I fyou have really nicely shaped dried tumble weeds in good condition you should sell them on e-bay. A few years ago i saw some one selling them. they very light and easy to ship. cut them off at the ground. Also, google " square foot garden" i think you will like the site. for your soil you may want to make a container garden. See ya. EDIT i just googled tumble weeds for sale, there was a lot there.

Answer 6

Tumble weeds are weeds that group together and when the winds come up they begin blowing in the direction away from the wind.

Answer 7

a tumbleweed is like a bunch of dead, dried up old weeds and brush and stuff, kinda. it tumbles because the wind pushes it. in some parts, if you look at a fence, a lot of tumbleweeds get stuck there, because thats as far as the wind can push them at the time.

Answer 8

Tumble weeds are actually dead plants usually called sage brush. Alive they are a light silvery green and when they die, they turn a tanish brown. They break loose and the wind just blows them around.

A friend of mine wanted to see one so I boxed it and sent it to him in Atlanta. I didn't tell him, so imagine his surprise when he opened the box! He let it tumble around his street awhile. They are neat to see.

Answer 9

its that weed that you see in the movies when somebodys all alone. it tumbles because the wind blows it and its curled up in a lightweight ball.

Answer 10

Tumble weeds are just dead weeds that are in a ball.

Answer 11

It's actually considered a plant. It picks up nutrients as it rolls along. But the wind blows it.