Originally published at: The fascinating history behind tumbleweeds - Boing Boing
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-When dried out, tumbleweeds are highly flammable. They can contribute to the spread of wildfires, especially during dry, windy conditions.
Even in a controlled burn, it can turn into a flaming Zerg swarm.
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- They were around when dinosaurs roamed the earth, so respect your elders.
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No consideration of tumbleweeds would be complete without the story of the accidental tumbleweed entrepreneur: Before Amazon, Google, and eBay, Linda Katz Started An Online Tumbleweed Empire… On Accident
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Got hit straight on by a tumbleweed driving down the highway.
It was a big old Mercury station wagon, so no harm done.
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It is pretty funny what pop culture has made to seem common and native to the US, is actually new and invasive.
CGP Grey did a good video about them too.
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Americans?
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From Popkin!
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Yeah, was a little surprised to see the tiny BBC article linked and not the massive CGP Grey one. His is absolutely full of info.
There’s two other videos he made on the making of it. One has gone “members only” but the other is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swx6VyiJ7TI
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CRY OF SILENCE, from The Outer Limits - tumbleweed terror
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First year in San Fernando Valley, CA. I and five schoolmates, employed at the same company a few blocks up the street, were walking together on one very windy evening along Ventura Blvd. Traffic was very busy and there were loud frequent gusts of wind, so one of our friends, George, apparently couldn’t hear a giant tumbleweed as it approached him from behind and struck him. He immediately jumped and turned while getting into a fighting position, fists up, his reaction possibly explainable by the fact that he grew up in a tough part of South Brooklyn — East New York. If that tumbleweed hadn’t been already dead…
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Yep. Part of my country growing up.
Was at the farm last week, doing some therapeutic burning ™. When things got a bit loose. Fortunately stopped the burn before it got to the fence line full of tumbleweeds. Which made the difference between using a garden hose and calling the volunteer fire department.
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Came here to make sure CGP Grey was mentioned. It really is a comprehensive look at tumbleweeds.
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The fact is, many many weeds in North America are not native and were brought over in bags of grain by the first Europeans. I’m not sure there’s a way to accurately study the effects these had on the ecosystem at this point.
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Earthworms were the first imports, and they’ve probably done more to alter things, although you are right, no idea how anyone could quantify or qualify the changes they’ve caused.
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