Tumbleweed versus Wild West

tumbleweed

Not a tumbleweed but a cactus

Do you remember watching those wild west cowboy movies and watching those tumbleweeds aka Russian Thistle? Not everything is a cactus in Arizona.

They aren’t native to Arizona and probably were brought in from Asia with the pioneers.

The picture above is that tumbleweed but in its green and growing stage. When they die, they turn brown and wither but there is a secret you may not know about. That tumble thing they do, its really about spreading their seeds about 100,000 per plant. The old dead tumbleweed blows around with the help of the wind, spreading their kind to the four corners of Arizona – OK every corner of Arizona not just Four Corners (if you understand this reference post a comment) lets see how quick you folks are? On a serious note after the weeds life comes to an end, it becomes extremely brittle and become a target for any brush fires.

Contact Us