Get to know more about tumbleweed, a plant that often appears in films

For cinema lovers, have you ever watched a film set in a hot, arid desert? Or who often watches cartoons with the main character being a lizard? If so, you must be familiar with the part that shows the presence of stiff, dry plants rolling quickly and being swept away by the wind.

These plants are not computer creations, but they exist in the real world. To find out why the plant rolled over infertile soil, let's look at the explanation!

The plant that often appears in films set in the desert is called Tumbleweed, or people often call it a weed. It is called that because Tumbleweed is a type of grass that damages and disturbs other life. For more details, let's divide it into several discussions, come on!

Origin of the Tumbleweed Plant

Tumbleweed has the Latin name Panicum Effusum. In Uncle Sam's country, this annoying plant is also called a Russian thistle or wind witch. It can be found in almost all parts of the United States. Tumbleweed was first discovered in South Dakota, aka South Dakota. Not only scattered in America, Tumbleweed can also be found in Africa, Australia, China, Europe, and Russia.

Tumbleweed Life

The cycle of plants that grow in the arid desert is not much different from plants in general. Born from roots, then becomes flowering grass, lives until it grows old and turns dry. Something characteristic of Tumbleweed is that it has thin green stems with sharp thorns and long, spreading twigs, which, over time, will form a bush. Sweet pink is the flower color of this plant. Apart from that, inside the flowers, there are fruits that have a taste that is almost the same as cherries.

Tumbleweed grows round like a large ball, about three feet thick on dry plains, in fields, and along roadsides like other grassy plants. This plant can reach a height of approximately 1.8 meters. In the film, what you might see is just a small roll blowing in the wind, but in fact, the monster ball can be small to large.

The uniqueness of Tumbleweed Plants

The problems caused by this plant come after it flowers and then dries out. Tumbleweed will release and separate itself from the plant through roots. The wide-open environment and the constant blowing of the wind helped the disturbing monster move and start rolling in all directions. Unlike other plants that spread their seeds through birds or other animals as intermediaries, Tumbleweed chooses a different path in its reproduction.

Bobbing in the gusts of air, Tumbleweed explores all corners of the barren land while spreading the seeds on its stems so that it can grow new Tumbleweed seeds in the future. This happens when summer comes, and when winter comes, they will die.

The Mess That Ever Happened Because of Tumbleweed

The existence of this weed, which is difficult to remove and eradicate, is quite disturbing to the activities of residents who live in the area where this plant is found. As reported from various sources, several cases that have occurred due to this plant include:

Severe Traffic Congestion

Generally, traffic jams on the highway occur because many road users use two or four-wheeled vehicles or an accident. However, the traffic jam in the area near Richland, Washington, United States, is different. On New Year's Eve 2020, it was caused by a disturbing monster.

Tumbleweed drifted along State Route 240 in southeastern Washington, heading toward Seattle due to strong winds. The weeds piled up on the road to a height of 6 meters, which certainly obstructed the view of car drivers. Breaking through a pile of Tumbleweeds is not a good idea, considering the sharp spines can scratch the glass and the car's body.

Every year, the police there always get reports of Tumbleweed scattered on the streets. However, New Year's Eve was the worst attack because the highway was impassable. Officers were finally deployed to clean up the scattered plants. During the cleanup, twenty miles of roads had to be closed for 10 hours, causing even worse traffic jams.

Bury the House

On October 23, another case caused by Tumbleweed occurred to a husband and wife. They revealed that they lived like they were in a horror film after being surrounded by weeds around their house. Gross said she and her husband had experienced something similar about ten years ago, but this was the worst.

It is said that the Tumbleweed piled high so that the door of their house could not be opened, and they climbed into the house window. Until they climb into their house window and can't open their front door. The trees on their property were also infested with Tumbleweed.

The wife revealed that she was worried that the pile of destructive plants would mean they couldn't get out in an emergency. Luckily, volunteers and residents took the initiative to help cut the large grass blocking their house entrance.

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Additional: Image of Tumbleweed on the highway (https://images.app.goo.gl/w3D8dbCBR2kxVV6JA), Image of Tumbleweed on the fence ()