Tumbleweed is the long-distance runner of the plant kingdom, sprinting along in great herds toward the horizon. In arid desert areas certain plant species have devised a unique way to propagate their kind across a hostile and unrepentant landscape. The top part of the plant breaks of from the stem and forms a dry, prickly ball which can roll off in the wind. And away they go, bouncing along like army of spherical soldiers headed toward a botanical skirmish. This strategy works because the seeds of the plant are held within the branches of the tumbleweed, which are then dispersed as the plant inevitably crumbles to dust.
In parts of the western USA the tumbleweeds get trapped against man-made objects like fences, cars and houses, shoaling up like a great wave, absent the sea.
I am not sure why I am so interested in the weird and unique ways of life on earth. But I feel strangely complete knowing the tumbleweed is out there, riding the wind under the incandescent sky and gibbous moon.
whoisfenton 