Why Do Tumbleweeds Tumble? | Deep Look

The silent star of classic Westerns is a plant on a mission. It starts out green and full of life. It even grows flowers. But to reproduce effectively it needs to turn into a rolling brown skeleton.
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DEEP LOOK: a new ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
Tumbleweeds might be the iconic props of classic Westerns. But in real life, they’re not only a noxious weed, but one that moves around. Pushed by gusts of wind, they can overwhelm entire neighborhoods, as happened recently in Victorville, California, or become a threat for drivers and an expensive nuisance for farmers.
“They tumble across highways and can cause accidents,” said Mike Pitcairn, who tracks tumbleweeds at the California Department of Food and Agriculture in Sacramento. “They pile up against fences and homes.”
And tumbleweeds aren’t even originally from the West.
Genetic tests have shown that California’s most common tumbleweed, known as Russian thistle, likely came from Ukraine, said retired plant population biologist Debra Ayres, who studied tumbleweeds at the University of California, Davis.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture employee, L. H. Dewey, wrote in 1893 that Russian thistle had arrived in the U.S. through South Dakota in flaxseed imported from Europe in the 1870s.
“It has been known in Russia many years,” Dewey wrote, “and has quite as bad a reputation in the wheat regions there as it has in the Dakotas.” This is where the name Russian thistle originates, said Ayres, although tumbleweeds aren’t thistles.
The weed spread quickly through the United States - on rail cars, through contamination of agricultural seeds and by tumbling.
“They tumble to disperse the seeds,” said Ayres, “and thereby reduce competition.”
A rolling tumbleweed spreads out tens of thousands of seeds so that they all get plenty of sunlight and space.
Tumbleweeds grow well in barren places like vacant lots or the side of the road, where they can tumble unobstructed and there’s no grass, which their seedlings can’t compete with.
--- Where does a tumbleweed come from?
Tumbleweeds start out attached to the soil. Seedlings, which look like blades of grass, sprout at the end of winter. By summer, Russian thistle plants take on their round shape and grow flowers. Inside each flower, a fruit with a seed develops.
Other plants attract animals with tasty fruits, and get them to carry away their seeds and disperse them when they poop.
Tumbleweeds developed a different evolutionary strategy. Starting in late fall, they dry out and die, their seeds nestled between prickly leaves. Gusts of wind easily break dead tumbleweeds from their roots and they roll away, spreading their seeds as they go.
--- How big do tumbleweeds grow?
Mike Pitcairn, of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said that in the state’s San Joaquin Valley they can grow to be more than 6 feet tall.
--- Are tumbleweeds dangerous?
Yes. They can cause traffic accidents or be a fire hazard if they pile up near buildings.
---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science:
www.kqed.org/science/1922987/...
---+ For more information on the history and biology of Russian thistle, here’s a paper by Debra Ayres and colleagues:
naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/2...
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---+ About KQED
KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media.
Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by the Templeton Religion Trust and the Templeton World Charity Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation Fund and the members of KQED.
#deeplook

[@ruffruffjunior5985]

Am I the only one who haven't seen a tumbleweed IRL?

[@synthvault451]

Yea...your not alone :/

[@chelsey8737]

I havent either even though i live only a few hours above la

[@SKtheMage]

Theres alot

[@smolweeblet3057]

Me i live in the phillippines

[@princey_06]

Aerika Chan dty

[@iinumae]

they actually look kind of cute when they're tumbling.......

[@ChristianJiang]

dolphin lover I know right!!!

[@aztr6765]

ikr i love tumbleweeds

[@noobbadatgames3956]

Agree

[@sneaksecondact]

Like a family of dangos.

[@wuy9suoi]

Until it hit you

[@gratituderanch9406]

My grandparents were poor when they were young and decorated tumbleweeds each year instead of Christmas trees 🎄

[@franciscohanna2956]

It's not like it made sense to have a pine in the desert either...

[@Usual_User]

Now I want to do that

[@silentmeditation1770]

Didn't enjoy the joke

[@brigidnativio3772]

Is that true? If so that's honestly a good idea

[@cactoos9793]

That sounds kinda cool!

[@joshirabin]

Me at 3 AM trying to get sleep Deep Look: Why do Tumbleweeds Tumble? Me: *I don’t need sleep I need answers*

[@ashishsoni4199]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 can't stop laughing

[@rubabthoughts]

Hahahahahaha

[@UmeshaNomad1975]

Ha haaaa haaaaaaaaaa

[@yoelarmasjr.5660]

"Oh boy 3 AM!!"

[@yahyeali6388]

I cant breath hahahahhhaha😂😂😂🤣

[@rentin5836]

1:45 that was so funny watching them tumbling away

[@datahere_9909]

Hahahaha

[@LorenzAgnote]

Yeah 😂

[@aRandomwacko]

Looks like a plant migration!

[@daday9760]

😂😂😂

[@arhobbies40]

They raidin' Area 51

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

I just want to see the behind-the-scenes footage of getting a camera to stay inside of a tumbleweed.

[@randomcatmeow1394]

Lawrence Calablaster 😂😂😂 now you say it, i wanna see it too

[@tehguitarque]

I sense zip ties were involved

[@ryran]

Ditto.

[@cupquakesmasher]

zip ties and a go pro

[@kennnnnn1015]

I read this as "behind-the-scene footage of getting a camera MAN to stay inside" ROFL

[@neon9337]

1:45 Everybody gangsta until the TumbleWeeds start chasing you

[@iainmawhinney8867]

it’s like the attack of the beach umbrellas vine

[@Waddle_Dee_With_Internet]

I love your profile pic

[@sairenuka4813]

These tumbleweeds are hilariously cute lol

[@0Konpeito0]

The combination of the bgm + the rolling different sizes of tumbleweeds + tumbleweeds rolling over each other makes me laugh for some reason haha

[@Madcat1331]

That's what so great about tumbleweeds: they don't care! xD

[@charleshope4766]

i was looking for someone who focused on that too 😂😂

[@Average_K]

Me as well. There’s something so adorable about it.

[@afel8051]

Agree! 😂

[@educhaves8244]

haha agree

[@hidayaamani2904]

I always thought tumbleweed was just a bunch of dead weeds and fallen branches that get tangled up when wind blows lol

[@Jordan_Dossou]

Chaimae Hakim same lol

[@SaxandRelax]

If so then they’d be everywhere

[@vikingmetaldragon]

Me too. I came here because I was first thinking of snowballs that roll down mountains and get bigger as they go, collecting more snow. I thought a tumbleweed would be the same deal, but I now see otherwise.

[@chelsey8737]

Me too!

[@maya-wy8ml]

Shimaa Hakim saaaaaaaame

[@rhondamcbath6279]

We had so many tumbleweeds, mostly close to the railroad tracks, One year I didn't have the money to buy a Christmas tree, so I walked to the railroad tracks and found a medium sized, perfectly round tumbleweed. I brought it home, took a water hose and gently sprayed off any dirt on it, left it outside to dry for a couple hours then went to work. I bought a spray can of silver paint, when it dried I brought it in and put a couple strings of clear Christmas lights around it, and finished off with small gold & red bulbs. It was amazing looking 😀. So I guess their good for something lol...

[@godzillaboy011]

Tumbleweeds always appear in any fights in any Wild West movies. They're iconic!

[@JJ_0134]

Pretty cool, I've always assumed that tumbleweeds were just a clumped up variety of dead plants, not an actual plant on its own. :)

[@unpeeledpotato6510]

me, you, and 74 other people thought the same, and thought wrong; this mini documentary increased my vast knowledge, i really enjoyed it XD

[@chainsawg0d137]

Wooow, that is s cool idea

[@calebriggins5628]

They look like one plant

[@seansmith6255]

@@unpeeledpotato6510 don't say "my vast knowledge"

[@Boborbot]

The soundtrack made this video. Just perfect.

[@PieterPatrick]

Nitay A. Hé... You look familiar.

[@Boborbot]

Hey there good lookin

[@dimitrymordeo296]

1:48 Now that is tumble weeds marathon...

[@itsmebrick1]

1:45 this is what happens when tumbleweeds raided area 51

[@The-Atomic-Gamer]

They see me rollin... They hatin.. xD

[@sothisisathing1415]

Atomic Gamer we are in 2018 if you didn't know

[@ulforcemegamon3094]

Atomic Gamer underrated comment

[@pujapun211]

Hahahaha ... U r funny

[@fuzzythetiger1secondago734]

@@sothisisathing1415 now we are in 2019

[@gfaison8035]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Durio_zibethinus]

Where is the gunfight scene? Ehehe

[@GandalfTheTsaagan]

Durio sp Alternative title: a gun duel without the duel

[@lucky-ez4dc]

haha

[@mindsstalker]

disappointing, I feel robbed

[@shasulaiman3192]

Gone, Reduce To Atoms

[@jonathancineus6424]

I actually liked the music in the background 3:00

[@com.phantom342]

Why am I laughing when the tumbleweeds start racing each other?

[@cemonk_]

You're not alone

[@raz0229]

*Because Western Cowboys' Films Look Almost Booring Without A Tumbleweed Passing By!*

[@amaan6845]

*the fastest tumbleweed In the west*

[@douglaspuett2306]

They tumble to fulfill the prophecy of the song.

[@polishmothproductions]

@@douglaspuett2306 Show me the song

[@lunchthief1855]

Haha nice

[@santiagocarreno5881]

My father is like a tumbleweed, he tumbles everywhere spreeding his seed :I

[@indiradefa3733]

bro

[@ssip7339]

...

[@DarkOceanShark]

That's messed up...

[@jokpok7119]

Bro is he ok?

[@jokpok7119]

PW's Dedicated Student you got him

[@delaney4204]

1:46 everyone’s gangster until the tumbleweeds start tumbling

[@WeSapaNganaSo]

Run!! Runn!! Runn!!

[@naungthaw]

1:46 me and my friends when the school bell rings!

[@beasty6881]

u have friends? luckyyy

[@norma8686]

Easy answer: if it didn't tumble it wouldn't be called tumbleweed.

[@supersonictumbleweed]

Gotta go fast

[@awfullygenericname6783]

Norma 🏠👨🏼__________🧑🏻_________🏃‍♂️ They see me tumbling They hatin’

[@KoeSeer]

if it's not tumbling it's called stayweed

[@cl1pzandcrazy311]

Norma LOL TRUE

[@sunken_lilies]

Stayweed

[@Surfergirl637]

The music choice in all of your videos is always so appropriate! Thanks, Deep Look, for making these short clips so enjoyable and unique to their own story.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

You are most welcome. Every Deep Look episode has original music, written by Seth Samuel. He's great!

[@HorribleSonofa]

When it comes down to it, aren’t we all all just searching for an abandoned onion field north of Los Angeles? (2:37)

[@adamr.2205]

1:45 me and the boys on our way back to class after the bell rings

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

I've always been curious about this; it's so amazing :) I've always had a desire to plant a bunch of tumbleweeds in my garden, but that might bother my neighbours.

[@akekestory493]

Lawrence Calablaster 😂

[@mickcarson8504]

It will not survive. They need open space to tumble along. It's their nature.

[@PeeperSnail]

Mick Carson What? The tumbleweed is already dead by the time it detaches from the ground, that’s the whole point.

[@mutiyangpilingbabae9207]

Tie it with a string or put a high barrier.

[@carlhenrylico4138]

when I deliver a joke.. they arrive..

[@leadong]

1:45 i love how the tumbleweeds pile up and it's also funny 😂😂😂😂😂

[@haaaaf8087]

as an asian, i never saw a single tumbleweed in my life

[@theonlinetroll6946]

Me too kid

[@gyneve]

Like a herd of tribbles.

[@MaraK_dialmformara]

gyneve Exactly what I was going to say. I do enjoy watching tribbles migrate.

[@karmabum21]

this is the comment i was looking for. thank you

[@adrianrodriguez7153]

Why was this so funny?

[@robertgrays8790]

1:45

[@KouNagai]

Music maybe?

[@HappyComfort]

When we lived in Nevada we saw them all the time but always had to laugh at their comical rolling as they tumbled along running into things and we had fun running into them with our car on the highway as they basically dissolve into nothing seemingly. They just seemed like a fun silly thing. Kind of fun like rollypollys are 😁👍😂

[@ForsythJC]

They look light and fluffy. Key word: look. I hit one in west Texas as it blew across I-10. I was going 90 MPH and it sounded like I crashed into a tree. Seeds and branches went everywhere. My paint was scratched up. And I spent weeks trying to pluck out pieces from the undercarriage. They look cute and fun until you run over one. Then they cost you an arm and a leg in repairs.

[@moekeo5931]

I also hit one, going through Amarillo. My car is pretty scratched up

[@NewMessage]

Such a seedy lifestyle... tisk tisk.

[@dinodude7290]

I see you everywhere New Message

[@big_cuh]

HA, CAUGHT YOU AGAIN!

[@matafanaku2326]

A literal moving plant. Amazing presentation as always!

[@marcochavez9381]

It has feets right?

[@thureintun1687]

The channel is one of the few KZbin channels where the maker/s really care for ever details including sounds, moments, effects, scripts, camera shot, all of it

[@abyssmage6979]

I'd like to point out great big story as well but it just closed this 2020 or so :(

[@RockStump]

I realized today that I never bothered to learn what tumbleweeds were or how they got rolling -- just about everything I knew of them came from movies, tv, or videogames. I had no idea they were spreading their seeds around, but it's super obvious now. This was a nice video.

[@rfldss89]

Russia: Interfing with America since the 1800's

[@jamesfra1311]

lul

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

Not Russia, Ukraine!!

[@bombarderoazul]

Ukraine was not independent country until 1991, at this time it was part of russian empire,

[@piccinini12521]

That's more of Russian intervention than anything conspiracy theorists babble about.

[@henryettoit897]

hillarybot spotted

[@peterjohnbacolod5438]

1:45 they see me rollin

[@officialalien7133]

Never seen tumbleweeds before But I love tumbleweeds now

[@jiniret5506]

1:45 perfect!🤣

[@mypal1990]

*Insert Cheesy western one-liner here*

[@randomcatmeow1394]

Emmanuel Alejandro *insert random cow skull here*

[@SuperStarwarsfan101]

*Insert harmonica music here*

[@bladeofveng]

*also insert ocarina on top of harmonica to make wahh wahh wahhhh*

[@goodcarer1965]

ITS HIGH NOON

[@ananamouse3028]

Insert the yodelling kid here

[@donmendez9371]

*ThErEs A sNaKE iN mY BoOt*

[@amaan6845]

*it's **-high noon-** 12'o clock*

[@bountyhunter9308]

Snek*

[@aidedwarrior2413]

wait till they start hideing in tumble weeds

[@atompunk456]

No u

[@jovitatanuwidjaja7861]

This made me laugh! Just how cute these Tumbleweeds roll!

[@agungpurnomo8]

This is a simple short video but it somehow entertained me. Lol. They way they personify tumbleweed, the way the narrator speak and the backsound used make the video amusing enough that it cured by depression. Lol

[@jaysondilao2129]

Awesome channel! You should have a million subs already! Keep up the good quality work!

[@RumBrave]

Great video! It doesn't snow here, so in the winter some people will stack and decorate 3 different sizes of tumbleweeds for a "snowman" in their yard. It's thorny business, so bring gloves, but the end result is so worth it!

[@sheena1645]

OMG! Thanks KZbin for recommending this video. I can't stop laughing now 🤣🤣🤣 idk why they sooooo cute

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thanks sheena!

[@moss.84]

I don't know why but seeing tumbleweeds tumble has a specific energy I can't explain

[@AgenderFordMustang45]

I love the sound design for this episode. The mild "western" feel, playful dissonance, and adventurous determination. Great episode. Tumble weeds are a great chuckle seeing them tumble on across the great barren wastes of the american desert.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you!

[@AgenderFordMustang45]

You are very welcome! I keep coming back to watch this video because I love the music with it so much, haha.

[@effective_cmpote]

How did you make TUMBLEWEED so interesting? Thank you PBS - been supporting education from the beginning. Thank you Deep Look and Curiosity Stream. I sincerely appreciate this page for keeping Wonder alive. I don't watch TV (I thunk Discovery Channel died a long time ago) but crave this content and you guys present it perfectly. Bite sized and filled with info. And such a diverse range of what you cover. Seems like everything and there's still more to come.

[@Doug00115]

1:45 "Kristoff's here!" "HE'S HERE!"

[@bmatt2252]

2:15 I never saw this plant with my own eyes, mostly in cartoons. I never thought they can grow that big

[@corsijtsma3546]

This was actually a really good question tbh. Never thought of it before. Edit: you guys should do a collab with Zefrank from true facts.

[@Grouperhunter]

I still remember watching PBS documentaries as a child and enjoyed seeing this video about tumble weeds. I subscribed to your channel. Keep up the good work!

[@wandij.2220]

**2:20 a.m.* *Me:* Ok, it's time to get a comfortable bed time~ *KZbin:* Have you ever wonder how tumbleweed tumble? *Me:* Uhm, well... **tap*

[@seikibrian8641]

* Have you ever *wondered.* (Or, Do you ever wonder.)

[@senorsimon986]

there are monster nearby

[@meowbewwies1842]

1:46 i just remebered that one meme with the flying umbrellas on the beach 😂😂😂

[@ayasakurahana]

I want one!!! For comedic affects and novelty as well as decoration

[@zneteen]

Now this is a deep look!

[@youraveragecommenter4371]

They don't even know where they going but they always rolling 😔🙌

[@kay6622]

top

[@serenitymoon825]

The BGM makes the video so much better

[@TheDragonCat99]

I technically already knew the answer to this question, but I watched anyway because it's Deep Look.

[@caylya7869]

1:46 lol😂why did I laugh at this part

[@ABetterYou1993]

This channel make me appreciate the beauty and wonders of LIFE... Thank You Deep Look.

[@martareitmajer]

Never thought I’d find a way to relate to the tumbleweed. It’s inspirational how it just keep spreading its seed no matter what.

[@pushparahi5681]

"Tumbleweed take the matter in their own hands" 🤣

[@water7762]

*_This is the very first time I laughed on a plant. XD_*

[@thureintun1687]

Whoever make the background sounds for this channel, I LOVE YOU DO MUCH!!!!!!!

[@legionofsentinels]

This is fantastic my first home was on a court that is called tumbleweed..After moving in there was a tumbleweed rooling around on the street.

[@aaditdeshpande2286]

Wow i didn’t know that it was a means of dispersion I always thought it was just random uprooted plants Great job Deeplook!!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you!

[@PikaChu...........]

yass ive been thinking and talking about this and wondered how they form

[@TommoCarroll]

Have you ever had an air plant? Just recently got one and it made us think of tumble weeds INSTANTLY!

[@dripchungus]

This guys are always on time when someone is going to fight they show up

[@avagene3335]

I changed my mind i dont wanna be a rock in my next life, I want to be a tumbleweed,

[@ccaamille_]

They see me tumbleeee, they hatinnn' 😂😂😂

[@miyuki8280]

finally another fun topic to bring up at parties

[@k.e1891]

I know there are different videos in Deep Look, such as ones about mosquitos, fish, you name it but this by far is my favorite.

[@tomahawk1556]

Tumbleweeds always reminded us of Dry but comfortable Cowboy Country!

[@FantasyAddict95]

I've hit one of these driving home before. the thing exploded, but left a big branch caught in my grill and scraping on the ground under my car... was a pain to pull out when I got home. :/

[@mug_sh0t]

1:46 this just made me laugh XD

[@zelmontales2677]

Thank you for this video!!

[@MC-ed1nc]

“Why Do Tumble Weeds Tumble” Me: Well, It’s Name Reveals It

[@friedrichpianezzola]

If I saw an army of tumbleweeds like in the video running towards me I'll know I'm done

[@lanacastillo49]

Weakling

[@hotaru8309]

0:41 Tumbleweed as an unassuming green bush. You may have seen one without ever realizing it.

[@breadfan_85]

In highschool I lived in a dry, dusty, windy little prairie town. Tumbleweeds were a huge problem. They would build up into these massive heaps, causing businesses and schools to close, and people to become trapped inside of buildings until they were either cleared manually, or by the wind.

[@raggedyhaggity250]

😂 😂 😂 😂 1:50 its so funny they look like they're running for their lives

[@hannahbanana2875]

I appreciate the effort this channel puts into these videos ! keep up the good work ! btw I love this channel

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you Hannah.

[@user_e2686]

tumbleweed: ight imma head out

[@sabree73]

Thanks for solving the mystery!!

[@adieu_archive]

That tumbleweed looks like my hair

[@helsiclife]

I always wanted to know this!!

[@failedsuccessfully9478]

"Death gives you a freedom" Me: *sees those dead bush tumbling* Well, ain't that true

[@shambosaha9727]

*and freedom gives you death *US national anthem starts playing

[@johnalterio372]

This is the greatest thing I've seen all year!

[@summermalik9931]

Love this documentary. love the music too

[@noahdavis8559]

Gee, thanks RUSSIA.

[@kirtil5177]

even though they came from closer to europe then russia

[@noahdavis8559]

kirtil5 Whatever man

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

*Ukraine

[@noahdavis8559]

ScienceDiscoverer Only going by what the video told me, guys

[@noahdavis8559]

Thanks for the clarification though

[@heinhtet2234]

The background music makes more Funny 🤣🤣🤣

[@levibarnor311]

I came for tumbleweed stayed because of good funky music and left with the ability to tumble

[@natalijj5713]

the music in the background adds some flavour to this video