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Project Noah Nature School
Salsola tragus
Shrub like plant, small flowers, small thorns, painful to touch.
Victory Trailhead
I found many bugs attracted to this plant I am very curious to know what it is.
Congrats! This spotting has been chosen as a PN Fact of the Day!
https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/pho...
Project Noah Fact of the Day: Mention the word tumbleweed and many people are mentally transported to the old ghost towns of the west. But tumbleweeds can be one of many plant species and occur in many places around the world usually in steppe or arid habitats. According to Wikipedia, "A tumbleweed is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of any of a number of species of plants, a diaspore that, once it is mature and dry, detaches from its root or stem, and tumbles away in the wind."
Russian thistle is a common tumbleweed of the western U.S. that is not a native of the U.S. but has become naturalized here to the point of being a noxious weed in some areas. It is believed to have been accidentally introduced from Eurasia when it was brought over in some agricultural seeds.
Tumbleweed, Russian thistle (Salsola tragus) spotted in California, USA by PN users Ronald and Amissa:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/752...
I think it's amazing that this plant, an icon of the desert Southwest, is actually an introduced weed from Russia!
Thanks! If you ever see this plant, examine it closely because insects love it for some reason
Spotted on Oct 5, 2011
Submitted on Oct 12, 2011
