Internet Colors - Set of 1035

Tumbleweed Color 949 - #DEAA88

A tumbleweed is the above-ground part of any of a number of plants that, once mature and dry, disengage from the root and tumble away in the wind. Usually, the tumbleweed is the entire plant apart from the roots, but in a few species it is a flower cluster. The tumbleweed habit is most common in steppe and desert climates. The tumbleweed is a diaspore, aiding in dispersal of propagules (seeds or spores). It does this by scattering the propagules either as it tumbles, or after it has come to rest in a wet location. In the latter case, the tumbleweed opens mechanically as it absorbs water; apart from its propagules, the tumbleweed is dead.

Although the number of species with the tumbleweed habit is small, quite a number of these species are common agricultural weeds.

Salsola tragus (Russian thistle) is an annual plant that breaks off at the stem base, forming a tumbleweed that disperses its seeds as it rolls on top of the ground. It seems to have been imported into South Dakota from Russia in 1870 or 1874 in shipments of flaxseed.