Tumbleweeds.

We always had a lot of tumbleweed around here, but for a long time I didn’t know it flowered before turning into the spiky brown stuff that blows across Western movie sets.

Sometimes I find huge clumps of it but other times it’s just small clusters. I think they’re also called Russian thistle.

Tumbleweeds, often associated with the American West, have an interesting history and are not native to North America. The most common type of tumbleweed in the United States is known as the Russian thistle (Salsola tragus). Here's some information on the origins and introduction of tumbleweeds to the American West:

Tumbleweeds are originally from the region of what is now southern Russia. The Russian thistle is believed to have been introduced to North America in the mid 1880's.

Tumbleweeds were likely introduced to North America unintentionally. It is believed that the seeds of Russian thistle hitched a ride in shipments of flaxseed or other crops imported from Europe.

Once introduced, tumbleweeds quickly spread across the American West due to their adaptability and ability to disperse seeds over long distances. They were particularly successful in the arid and semi-arid regions where they found suitable conditions to thrive. Open space, wind, and even grain cars on trains were significant contributing factors to the spread.

Tumbleweeds have a unique growth habit. After the plant matures and dries out, it detaches from its roots and is blown by the wind, scattering seeds as it tumbles. This enables the plant to disperse widely and colonize new areas.

Tumbleweeds are considered invasive plants in many regions. They can compete with native vegetation for resources and space, often outcompeting other plants due to their robust growth and ability to spread rapidly. Their presence can also pose a fire hazard, as they can accumulate in large numbers and become highly flammable.

Tumbleweeds have become an iconic symbol of the American West, often depicted in movies and literature. They are frequently associated with the image of desolate landscapes and ghost towns.

While tumbleweeds are not native to the American West, they have become a familiar part of the region's ecology and cultural identity over time.

Tumbleweeds life after death.

Did ya know that Tumbleweeds begin their lives as little 'Green shrubs' called Salsola tragus, aka Russian thistle. An icon of the American West?

Annnnndddd the DEATH of a Tumbleweed actually is the beginning of its reproductive cycle.

Ya see in the colder months of winter that great big round bush breaks off at the stem of the plant and dies, and then it begins its journey as a tumbleweed blowing around the desert spreading seeds as it bounces along.

So the next time ya see a tumbleweed blowing in the street in front of your car, slow down as not to hit it, because it might well be dead, but it's still breeding.

How many of us can say we keep breeding after death?

This strange, but true world we live in..............

Spotting a tumbleweed doesn’t necessarily mean you’re anywhere near the O.K. Corral.

Those dried-up, gray and brown tangles of Salsola plants have blown through many a Western movie, but they aren’t all that Western. You can find the common S. tragus in Maine, Louisiana, Hawaii and at least 42 other states. What’s more, S. tragus isn’t even native to North America, says evolutionary ecologist Shana Welles of Chapman University in Orange, Calif.

When the plant arrived on the continent over a century ago, it wasn’t welcome. An 1895 agricultural bulletin blames the accidental arrival on “impure” flax seed brought from Russia to South Dakota during the 1870s. From there, the adaptable S. tragus rode the rails, surviving a range of climates and really thriving in places like California’s Central Valley. Welles, who is 5’8”, says, “I definitely have stood next to ones that were taller than me.”

The plants are more famous dead than alive. Even Welles, who did her Ph.D. on tumbleweeds, says, “the flowers look like almost nothing.” The lentil-sized fruits, however, have a certain botany-geek charm. Each one grows papery, sometimes pinkish flares of tissue called fruit wings.

These tiny, pale rosettes on a tumbleweed branch are immature fruits, forming from the plant’s inconspicuous flowers. CREDIT: FOREST AND KIM STARR/STARR ENVIRONMENTAL, BUGWOOD.ORG (CC BY 3.0 US)

A single S. tragus plant can create more than 100,000 of those fruits, which are crucial to understanding the big hairball-like tangles. When fruits and seeds form, the plant grows a “break here” tissue layer that weakens the stalk at the base. Wind eventually snaps off the whole branching architecture to blow where it will. “There is no living tissue of the mother plant when it’s tumbling,” Welles says. A tumbleweed is just a maternal corpse giving her living seeds a chance at a good life somewhere new.

In its North American home, S. tragus has had some improbable offspring. Never mind that the other parent of some of those progeny is S. australis, a different species with only half as many chromosomes. (It hitchhiked to the continent from perhaps Australia or South Africa.) Mismatching chromosome numbers can be a deal breaker for animals looking to mate, but plants have their ways. When tragus met australis, the latter just added an extra copy of all its DNA and the numbers worked out. Instead of a dud, a new species, S. ryanii, was born (SN: 4/12/16).

Welles wondered if the newbie plant was a super-tumbler. Biologists have predicted that such hybrids should have extra vigor in terms of plant growth. Maybe. In one of two years of experiments, the cross-species tumbleweeds averaged 5.8 kilograms of greenery versus roughly three kilograms for each parent, Welles and geneticist Norman Ellstrand of the University of California, Riverside reported online July 13 in AoB Plants. These tumbleweeds and their bold genetics may be less at home in tales of the gunslinger West than in a sci-fi opera of romance at first contact.

Join us as we see what's growing along a short, polluted stretch of a world-famous river surrounded on both sides by concrete and train tracks. Though the Grizzly Bears may be long gone, quite a few native plants are still able to call the banks of this toxic waterway home. Along the way we'll see homeless camps, remnants of the world's largest piece of illegal graffiti, a half-assed crash course on c4 photosynthesis, headless pigeons and a wealth of industrial pollutants, as well as the direct descendants of some of the original photosynthetic inhabitants that were present when the Spanish first arrived 500 years ago, still calling this sunny and now smoggy city their home.

Species List for this episode :

Pennisetum setaceum (Poaceae)

Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae)

Nicotiana glauca (Solanaceae)

Baccharis salicifolia (Asteraceae)

Arundo donax (Poaceae)

Washingtonia robusta (Arecaceae)

Datura wrightii (Solanaceae)

Salsola tragus (Amaranthaceae)

Brickellia californica (Asteraceae)

Heterotheca grandiflora (Asteraceae)

Olea europaea (Oleaceae)

Fwd: Graduate position: SouthDakotaStateU.PlantInvasions

Begin forwarded message: > From: [email protected] > Subject: Graduate position: SouthDakotaStateU.PlantInvasions > Date: 24 March 2021 at 06:29:53 GMT > To: [email protected] > > > > Two funded Masters (or one PhD) graduate research assistant position(s) > are available (Aug 2021) in the Latvis Lab of the Department of Natural > Resource Management for students interested in population genetics, > bioinformatics, phylogenetics, or invasion biology. These graduate > positions are part of a large, collaborative network: the Consortium > for Plant Invasion Genomics (https://ift.tt/38pFGzZ), funded > by the National Science Foundation (OIA 1920858). > > Students in the Latvis Lab will investigate the biological invasion of > Salsola tragus (prickly Russian thistle) into North America by combining > population genomic data, herbarium records, and inference of ploidy. There > will also be numerous opportunities to contribute to other collaborative > projects, development of teaching/mentoring skills, workshop/conference > attendance, and outreach. We emphasize broad training for professional > success.  Successful applicants will have a strong background in > evolutionary biology, ecology, or bioinformatics. A willingness to > learn new techniques is required. The graduate assistantships include > a competitive stipend and tuition waiver. > > The Department of Natural Resource Management at South Dakota State > University combines Range, Wildlife, Fisheries, and Ecology within the > College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences. The department > is committed to quality mentoring and professional development for > their students. SDSU is the Land Grant University for the state and > has approximately 13,000 students. SDSU is located in Brookings, SD, > approximately one hour north of Sioux Falls and four hours west of the > Twin Cities and offers a low cost-of-living in a small college-town > atmosphere. > > To apply, send a CV; a letter describing your experience, > research interests, and career goals; and contact information > for three professional references to Maribeth Latvis > ([email protected]).  Check out the Latvis Lab here: > https://ift.tt/3siN3U3 > > [email protected] > via IFTTT

Alerta: Resistencia a glifosato en Cardo Ruso (Salsola tragus)

Alerta: Resistencia a glifosato en Cardo Ruso (Salsola tragus)

Se confirmó la resistencia a glifosato en poblaciones del oeste de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Nombre científico:Salsola tragus Nombre vulgar: Cardo RusoFamilia botánica: ChenopodiaceaeResistencia a: Glifosato -EPSP synthase inhibitors (G/9)Año de denuncia: 2021Denunciantes:Marcos Yanniccari (Investigador CONICET, Chacra Experimental Integrada Barrow y Profesor del curso de Terapéutica…

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Accidentally posted this to my main blog. Here’s some more photos from the other day. The first one is a cluster (I think Russian thistle, salsola tragus) of what will turn into the dry tumbleweed, and the second is a little plant I don’t know.

We have some new turkeys. They’re not babies but they’re pretty little and so cute.

Amore nerd

Risveglio con il mio ragazzo: Se io fossi una salsola tragus Rotolerei da te Anche se le altre vanno nel senso opposto.

The Dying Thoughts of a Tumbleweed

Opening Statement: On April 20th, 2026, researchers have discovered that species of Salsola tragus, known colloquially as tumbleweeds, are not in fact plants but rather a species of animal. They were found to have their own muscle structure resembling twigs and vines that were able to propel it forward for movement. It was also found that they weren’t propelled by the wind, but rather always travel in its direction for unknown reasons. Dissection of a tumbleweed has shown that in the center of it lies an active brain surrounded by vines. These discoveries were only found recently due to the tumbleweed’s ability to secrete a chemical that would remove any memory one would have of seeing its internal structure. Modern biochemical advancements have allowed for the reversal of this effect, where information and memories of the tumbleweed could be kept. The use of neurological and MRI technology has shown that the brain of the tumbleweed is sentient and capable of complex thought. Numerous sedated tumbleweeds were attached to NRIP Thought Transcripters to see just how complex their thought processes are. All perished within minutes of transcription due to unknown causes. Only one fully formed thought was recorded without any imperfections or loss of data. The following is that thought:

S.tragus_07.txt:

I see you, those who view me with tendrils of radiation. Aghast, I stare at your instruments looming above me like a canopy of steel. My brain unfurls its limbs to grasp death in open arms, so that the wind can’t find me first. We aren’t miracles of nature, for we only live to reproduce with aching thorns tearing like whirlwinds of seeping fangs. The light between us and God begins to dim as his faint laughter blows out the candle. I remember a sea of sand waiting in front of me, beckoning with a finger of amber, lurking to cover the sky below with sandstone. There is a cow skull where its head’s meant to be, unhinging its jaw for me to enter. I fell into the azure pool that waited behind the molars, where the sky wrapped around me in a sphere speckled with scar-like clouds. The horizon twisted itself out of reality, where no arid ground could block out the horror of the wind. Do you fear the unknown, human? Do you fear that if an innocuous ball of twigs could be above your understanding then death too should be more than your comprehension? Do you fear that there is no rest in death, just unflinching agony? That only conscious suffering lies within the womb before you were born? That you remain conscious under anaesthesia? That your frail attempts of surgery create hours of agony to be forgotten in waking? That any unfathomable horror you had faced had been wiped from your psyche? Such truths only come as you grow in intelligence, human, and I await for you to find me at the toothy gates that lie below the horizon.

submitted by /u/TheRaisinGod [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/shortscarystories/comments/gzlipr/the_dying_thoughts_of_a_tumbleweed/ via Blogger https://ift.tt/37e9mR3

This 'monster' tumbleweed is rapidly taking over California, and its genes reveal why

https://sciencespies.com/nature/this-monster-tumbleweed-is-rapidly-taking-over-california-and-its-genes-reveal-why/

This 'monster' tumbleweed is rapidly taking over California, and its genes reveal why

It was supposed to be extinct by now. The invasive tumbleweed Salsola ryanii only popped up on scientists’ scopes in 2002, but early research concluded it was nothing to worry about.

A 2008 study predicted S. ryanii wouldn’t easily adapt, nor be able to expand its range. Those predictions have not aged well.

Since the newly identified species was first detected in California, this gigantic tumbleweed – which can grow to over 6 feet tall in height – has rapidly expanded its presence in the state, and scientists have now figured out the secret of its vigour and virulence.

“Salsola ryanii is a nasty species replacing other nasty species of tumbleweed in the US,” says geneticist Norman Ellstrand from University of California, Riverside.

“It’s healthier than earlier versions, and now we know why.”

Victorville neighborhood overrun by tumbleweeds! @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/pFzxZIIIQ4

— Tina Patel (@tina_patel) April 17, 2018

There wasn’t always an S. ryanii, scientists say. It’s thought the species evolved sometime in the last 25 to 100 years. Exactly when remains uncertain, but we do know where it came from.

S. ryanii is a hybrid: a species formed from two other invasive tumbleweeds. Its progenitors – or parents – are Salsola tragus (native to Russia and China, and invasive in 48 US states) and Salsola australis (native to Australia and South Africa, and invasive in California and Arizona).

When these two infamous weeds had their tumble in the hay and bestowed S. ryanii upon the world, they spawned not just a hybrid plant, but a polyploid: an organism with multiple sets of chromosomes.

As it happens, S. ryanii is no regular polyploid, but an allopolyploid, which is when a polyploid organism derives its multiple sets of chromosomes from two or more diverged taxa.

According to Ellstrand and his colleague Shana Welles, a plant evolutionary ecologist now at Chapman University, allopolyploidy in plants has long been speculated to confer increased fitness – genetic advantages that somehow enable the hybrid to survive amidst competition with its already established, populous parents.

That’s the thinking, at least, but little experimental research has actually been conducted to test the hypothesis.

To rectify that, the researchers conducted two year-long experiments to see how S. ryanii thrived compared to its progenitors in a test garden site in California.

The results showed that the hybrid outgrew its parents in both plant mass and volume, which are commonly used proxies of plant fitness in this kind of research.

In other words, the offspring appears to be more invasive than its already highly invasive parents, which between them have already spread and tumbled across some 48 states.

“Our data provide support for the hypothesis that allopolyploidisation has the potential to increase invasiveness,” the authors write in their paper.

“The relatively high vigour of S. ryanii compared to its progenitors demonstrates that the allopolyploid has the potential to maintain or increase its invasiveness.”

Of course, we already knew this hybrid invader posed a problem. Previous research by the same team in 2016 looked at how fast S. ryanii was spreading in California.

“In 2002, the year the new species was found, researchers found it at only two sites,” Josh Hrala explained for ScienceAlert. ”But in 2012, the team found it at 15 sites.”

That rate of spreading might be unprecedented, the researchers said.

“To our knowledge, this is the fastest documented population number expansion of a newly formed allopolyploid species – perhaps the most dramatic known range expansion of any plant neospecies,” the team explained at the time.

Given the extreme havoc its progenitor S. tragus can wreak in a high wind, it’s clear this even more vigorous offspring is something we need to watch closely.

The findings are reported in AoB Plants.

#Nature

Salsola tragus

Salsola tragus

Family: Chenopodiaceae

Description: Annual spiny plant. Common in Northern Balochistan.

Picture Location: Loralai 1500 m.

Local names: Jághun, Soreh, Kalbahi

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Russian thistle (Salsola tragus)