Tumbleweed
A tumbleweed is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of
Apart from its primary vascular system and roots, the tissues of the tumbleweed structure are dead; their death is functional because it is necessary for the structure to degrade gradually and fall apart so that its
The tumbleweed diaspore
Plants that form tumbleweeds
The tumbleweed dispersal strategies are unusual among plants; most species disperse their seeds by other mechanisms. Many tumbleweeds establish themselves on broken soil as opportunistic agricultural weeds. Tumbleweeds have been recorded in the following plant groups:[6]
- Chenopodiaceae)
- Amaryllidaceae
- Asphodelaceae
- Asteraceae
- Brassicaceae
- Boraginaceae
- Caryophyllaceae
- Fabaceae
- Lamiaceae
- Poaceae
In the family
Other members of the Amaranthaceae (s.l.) that form tumbleweeds include
Among the Amaranthaceae (s.s.) that form tumbleweeds, there are several species of Amaranthus, such as Amaranthus albus, native to Central America but invasive in Europe, Asia, and Australia; and Amaranthus graecizans, native to Africa, but naturalized in North America.[15] Amaranthus retroflexus, which is indigenous to tropical North and South America, has become nearly cosmopolitan largely as a weed, but like many other species of Amaranthus, it also is widely valued as animal forage and as human food, though it should be utilised with caution to avoid toxicity.[16]
Several Southern African genera in the family Amaryllidaceae produce highly optimised tumbleweeds; their inflorescences are globular umbels with long, spoke-like pedicels, either effectively at ground level, or breaking off once the stems are dry. When the seeds are about ripe, the fruit remain attached to the peduncles, but the stem of the umbel detaches, permitting the globes to roll about in the wind. The light, open, globular structures form very effective tumbleweed diaspores, dropping their seeds usually within a few days as the follicles fail under the wear of rolling. The seeds are fleshy, short-lived, and germinate rapidly where they land. Being poisonous and distasteful, they are not attractive to candidate transport animals, so the rolling diaspore is a very effective dispersal strategy for such plants. Genera with this means of seed dispersal include Ammocharis, Boophone, Crossyne and Brunsvigia.[17]
Some species of the Apiaceae form tumbleweeds from their flower umbels, much as some Amaryllidaceae do.[1]
In the Asteraceae, the knapweed Centaurea diffusa forms tumbleweeds. It is native to Eurasia and is naturalized in much of North America. Also in the Asteraceae, Lessingia glandulifera, native to America, sometimes forms tumbleweeds; it grows on sandy soils in desert areas, chaparral, and open pine forests of the western United States.[18]
In the Brassicaceae, Sisymbrium altissimum, Crambe maritima, Lepidium, and a resurrection plant, Anastatica form tumbleweeds.
In the Caryophyllaceae, the garden plant "baby's-breath" (Gypsophila paniculata), produces a dry inflorescence that forms tumbleweeds. In parts of central and western North America, it has become a common weed in many locations including hayfields and pastures.[19]
In the legume family (Fabaceae), Baptisia tinctoria and some species of Psoralea produce tumbleweeds. In Psoralea the tumbleweed detaches from the plant by abscission of the stem.[20]
In the Plantaginaceae, Plantago cretica forms tumbleweeds.
Inflorescences that act as tumbling diaspores occur in some
In the Solanaceae, Solanum rostratum[10] forms tumbleweeds.
Wind dispersed fruits that tumble or roll on the ground, sometimes known as "tumble fruits", are rare. Some are technically
Very similar in habit to Anastatica, but practically unrelated, are the spore-bearing
Bovista, a genus of puffball, uses essentially the same dispersal strategy.
Environmental effects
The United States Department of Agriculture classified the ubiquitous tumbleweeds as a non-native and extremely invasive plant in the United States. They are considered noxious in nature and detrimental in many ways. Tumbleweeds thrive in disturbed soil and are a major contributor to native plant extinctions and wildfires, being highly flammable and bouncing over or rapidly growing in land cleared of vegetation between fields or areas of forest as firebreaks. Despite over a century of cooperation between Mexican, Canadian, and US governments to combat the species, tumbleweeds are found in most regions of North America.[25]
Some ruderal species that disperse as tumbleweeds are serious weeds that significantly promote wind erosion in open regions.[citation needed] Their effects are particularly harmful to dry-land agricultural operations where the outside application of additional moisture is not practicable. One study showed that a single Russian thistle can remove up to 170 L (44 US gallons) of water from the soil in competition with a wheat crop in one year.[26] The amount of water removed from fallow land more subject to erosion would be even more damaging.
It sometimes happens that species of large tumbleweed, especially if thorny, can form aggregations that are physically hazardous and can block roads and cover buildings and vehicles. This can happen where fences and similar obstacles cause the accumulation, but the weeds can also entangle each other until they form piles that can no longer roll. Such piles can be a serious threat to trapped vehicles or buildings and their occupants, particularly because they are dry and flammable. Examples of enveloped buildings and vehicles have been documented mainly in the Western regions of the US. In residential areas, an example was the town of Mobridge, South Dakota, where in 1989 tens of tons of large tumbleweeds ("Russian thistles") that had matured in the dry bed of nearby Lake Oahe buried many houses so deeply that mechanical equipment was necessary to remove it, release occupants and counter the fire hazard.[27][28]
There was a significant outbreak of Panicum effusum in the Australian town of Wangaratta in February 2016 that attracted international attention. The seed heads of the weed, known locally as "hairy panic", had piled several meters deep in some places, forcing residents to spend several hours removing it to regain access to their homes.[29][30][31] The local council subsequently indicated it was considering attaching large vacuums to street-sweepers in an attempt to control the outbreak.[32]
On 18 April 2018, strong winds and neglected maintenance of neighboring private land brought a large number of tumbleweeds into Victorville, California. Approximately 100 to 150 homes required help from public services after their entryways were at least partly blocked. The local fire department participated in the cleanup as the influx of tumbleweeds presented both a safety and fire hazard.[33]
A similar incident occurred on 31 December 2019, when high winds dislodged a large number of tumbleweeds on the
Tumbleweeds have been observed causing problems with wastewater treatment plants. In some cases of inadequate fencing, they can get entangled in electromechanical equipment such as clarifiers and mechanical aerators leading to increased energy use and labor cost associated with operating and cleaning.[36]
Society and culture
Originating in the
Once dry and uprooted, tumbleweeds form steppe cursors
References
- ^ a b Ganong, W.F. (1927). A Textbook of Botany for Colleges. MacMillan Co. p. 359. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
- ^ Baker 2007, p. 90.
- ^ Ganong, W.F. (1896). "An outline of phytobiology". Bulletin of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick. 13: 3–26, page 1 errata. page 16
- ISBN 978-0-916422-74-5.
- ^ Watson, Sheppard Arthur (1928). The Miridae of Ohio (volume 4). Bulletin, Ohio Biological Survey / Knull series. Ohio State University (published 1930).
- ^ Baker 2007, p. 3.
- ^ Main, Douglas (2 March 2011). "Consider the tumbleweed". scienceline.org. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-56044-563-0.
- ^ "Salsola tragus (Linnaeus)". Flora of North America. Vol. 4. pp. 399–402 – via eFloras.org. eFloras.org
- ^ a b c Pammel, Louis Hermann (1903). Some Weeds of Iowa. Experiment Station, Iowa State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. page 477
- ^
Becker, D. A. (1978). "Stem abscission in tumbleweeds of the Chenopodiaceae: Kochia". JSTOR 2442692.
- ^ Kartesz, John T.; et al. (30 October 1995) [1994]. Schneider, Erich (ed.). "Chenopodiaceae: Standardized nomenclature". Biota of North America Program. Center for the Study of Digital Libraries. (with data from) Hatch, Stephan L.; Gandhi, Kancheepuram N.; Brown, Larry E. (1990). College Station, TX: Texas A&M University. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ Wildland Fire Management Plan: Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex (PDF) (Report). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. September 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2020.
- ^ "Atriplex rosea (Linnaeus)". Flora of North America. Vol. 4. pp. 326, 340, 358 – via eFloras.org. eFloras.org
- ISBN 978-0-8047-0004-7.
- ^ Watt, John Mitchell; Breyer-Brandwijk, Maria Gerdina (1962). The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa (2nd ed.). E & S Livingstone.
- ISBN 9781770072657.
- ^ "Lessingia glandulifera". Flora of North America. Vol. 20. pp. 452, 454, 456 – via eFloras.org. eFloras.org
- ^ "Gypsophila paniculata (Linnaeus)". Flora of North America. Vol. 5 – via eFloras.org. eFloras.org
- ^
Becker, D.A. (1968). "Stem abscission in the tumbleweed, Psoralea". JSTOR 2440962.
- ^
Gibson, David J. (2009). Grasses and Grassland Ecology. Oxford, UK: ISBN 978-0-19-852919-4.
- ISBN 0-643-09161-0.
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- ^
Appel, O.; al-Shehbaz, I.A. (12 September 2002). "Cruciferae". In Kubitzki, K.; Bayer, C. (eds.). Flowering plants: Dicotyledons: Malvales, Capparales, and non-betalain Caryophyllales. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. 5. Springer. pp. 75–174, esp. p. 83. ISBN 3-540-42873-9.
- Los Angeles County, CA: Department of the Agricultural/Weights and Measures Commissioner. c. 2016 – via USDA plants database (plants.usda.gov).
- ^
Parker, Robert (2003). Water Conservation, Weed Control Go Hand in Hand (PDF). Drought Advisory. Vol. EM4856. Pullman, WA: Cooperative Extension. Archived from the original(PDF) on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-930773-39-7.
- Knight Ridder News Service. 25 December 1989. p. 34 – via Google News archive search (news.google.com).
- ^ "Australia town consumed by 'hairy panic'". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- The Belfast Telegraph (newspaper). 18 February 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Halkon, Ruth (18 February 2016). "Entire town buried under bizarre 'hairy panic' weed that has baffled experts". The Mirror. London, UK. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ "Big vacuums could combat 'hairy panic' in Australia city". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- National Public Radio(NPR).
- ^ "The meteorology of the tumbleweed storm. Plus, the Ukrainian connection". CliffMass.Blogspot.com. Cliff Mass weather and climate blog. January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
- ^ @wspd3pio (1 January 2020). "Tumblegeddon" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ISSN 2766-1415– via digitalcommons.unl.edu.
- ^ Carlton, Genevieve. "11 Historically inaccurate tropes western movies always get wrong". ranker.com.
- ^ Hohenberger, Kevin (3 December 2022). "10 Western tropes that most western movies actually break". Collider.
- ^ "Tumbleweeds: Enduring symbol of West is Fernley nuisance". KOLO-TV. Reno, NV. 7 March 2019.
- ^ "The tumbling tumbleweed". eng282.wordpress.com (blog). 7 April 2015.
- ^ "Curiosities What are the desert balls that appear in western movies really called?". Daily News. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
Bibliography
- Baker, Dirk V. (2007). Dispersal of an Invasive Tumbleweed (PhD). Fort Collins: Colorado State University.
External links
- The Trouble With Tumbleweed / Video about Tumbleweeds on better source needed]
- Video showing a massive displacement of tumbleweed in the Mojave desert on better source needed]
- Video showing a massive displacement of tumbleweed in the Mojave desert on
- Howard, Brian Clark (17 December 2015). "Watch a Plague of Tumbleweeds Blow Across the West". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015.