I didn't think you easterner's knew about tumbleweeds... LAL
The top of the mountain comes off?
In case you have to get in there.:dunno:
Sure do. We have them here too, Eastern variety they just look different.
(Reckers,no not like a body) :laugh:
A little tumbleweed history.
A tumbleweed is the above-ground part of a plant that, once mature and dry, separates from the root and tumbles
Rotation in living systems
Rotating locomotion encompasses two distinct modes of locomotion: simple rolling, and spinning relative to a fixed axle or body, in the manner of a wheel or propeller...(rolls) away in the wind.
. Usually, the tumbleweed is the entire plant apart from the roots, but in a few species it is a flower cluster. The tumbleweed habit is most common in steppe
Steppe,
In physical geography, a steppe is a bio me region characterized by grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude...
The tumbleweed is a diaspore. (spelled wrong?)
In botany, a diaspore is a plant dispersal unit consisting of a seed or spore plus any additional tissues. In some seed plants, the diaspore is a seed and fruit together, or a seed and elaiosome. In a few seed plants, the diaspore is most or all of the plant, known as a tumbleweed.Diaspores are..., aiding in dispersal.
Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...
A seed , referred to as a kernel in some plants, is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...or spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions...
It does this by scattering the propagules either as it tumbles, or after it has come to rest in a wet location. In the latter case, the tumbleweed opens mechanically as it absorbs water; apart from its propagules, the tumbleweed is dead.
Plants forming tumbleweeds,
Although the number of species with the tumbleweed habit is small, quite a number of these species are common agricultural weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-made settings such as gardens, lawns or agricultural areas, but also in parks, woods and other natural areas.
Although thought to be native to Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
In 1870 or 1874 in shipments of flax seed. It has become a noxious weed that has spread throughout North America to inhabit suitable habitats which include areas with disturbed soils like roadsides, cultivated fields and eroded slopes, and in natural habitats that have sparse vegetation like coastal and riparian sands, semi-deserts and deserts. Salsola tragus is the correct name for it. Though it is a noxious weed, Salsola tragus is useful on arid rangelands as forage for livestock.
Other members of the family Amaranthaceae that form tumbleweeds include Amaranthus albus
Amaranthus albus
Amaranthus albus is an annual species of flowering plant. It is native to the tropical Americas but a widespread introduced species in other places, including Europe, Africa, and Australia.
Theres more info if you want it, I cut a lot out.
