![]() ![]() Or you may have tried (mostly likely in vain) to grow a “Resurrection Fern” or “Rose of Jericho” from a dried-up ball of leaves. Source: Nicole-Koehler, Wikimedia Commons The so-called Resurrection Fern ( Selaginella lepidophylla) is one of the rare fern relatives that is a tumbleweed. Boophane and Brunsvigia, two extraordinary African bulbs likewise bearing balls of flowers, are also tumbleweeds. It is sometimes called-and why not?-tumbleweed onion. Source: The huge spherical umbels of rose-purple flowers of the ornamental onion Allium schubertii break off and roll about in its native Middle East environment. The flower head of the tumbleweed onion ( Allium schubertii) is a typical tumbleweed. You may be growing tumbleweeds without knowing it. Moist soils are an anathema to them: they much prefer drought! They don’t get very far, although may well be present, in dense, green, shrubby environments. Tumbleweeds tend to found in arid climates with open environments where there are few obstacles to hinder their roll-about distribution method: steppes, savannas, plains, deserts, beaches, etc. Tumbleweeds can be flower heads or entire plants that spontaneously break free and roll in the wind, spreading their seeds or propagules as they go. It actually refers any plant sharing the same seed distribution technique. Tough question! The term tumbleweed can refer to many different plants in 10 different plant families. This one is a giant tumbleweed ( Salsola x ryanii), only recently discovered in California. Yikes!Ī tumbleweed can be any plant that breaks off and blows around. And each plant produces up to 200,000 seeds a year. Going barefoot in tumbleweed territory is unthinkable and in many areas, you have to protect the legs of pets and livestock to keep them from going lame. Imagine a rolling, burning bush heading towards your home! Their thorny stems make handling them painful (hint: wear thick gloves!) and scratches can cause rashes, itching and inflamed skin in sensitive individuals. Some homes become entirely covered and can’t be recognized as buildings.Īnd Western tumbleweeds can be toxic to wildlife (they’re edible when young, then more and more toxic as they mature), hinder traffic and, being highly flammable, are a major fire hazard. You certainly wouldn’t let a child play outdoors when they’re around in any number: that could be fatal! Sometimes so many tumbleweeds build up against homes that people have had to climb out through second-story windows or call neighbors for help. The road had just been cleared by a snowplow! CLICK ON THIS: IT’S AMAZING! Source: Tim Tower, When the big, round shrub-like masses of dry vegetation break loose from their roots and start to roll, they have to stop somewhere … and that somewhere can be drainage ditches, fences, firebreaks, gardens and homes. No one in their right mind would ever think a short film about Tumbleweeds would be possible, but Jared and Justin managed to bring together a very unusual story turning the Tumbleweed into a persona and documenting its unusual tumbless life.Road overwhelmed by tumbleweeds. The film also includes an outstanding overhead stop-motion shot of the slow Tumbleweed moving forward through the years. The beauty of the film comes from its simplistic but lively cinematography and movement by Damian Acevedo, but also with a seamless integration of CG animation and breathtaking slow motion shots created by Ntropic and Travis Button. We always try to find the humanity in the absurd of the world. – Excerpt from Jared Varava’s interview with Ĭreated as a dramatic documentary, or rather a mockumentary, it can unwillingly also be seen as a humorous film, as they brilliantly exploit the weirdness of the story. An outcome that was in fact neither quick nor easy, taking over 3 years to produce.Īt that point in time it seemed really easy, it seemed like a cool easy thing… grab a digital camera, get a CG artist that puts some stuff in, and in no time we’ll have another movie ![]() The idea quickly came back onto their laps after the student decided not to do it, and they decided to make a quick and easy short film out of it. Tumbleweed! is a fantastic execution of a rather unusual story thought up by Jared Varava and written by his brother Justin, starting off as a stop-motion thesis project idea for a friend of Justin’s. The true and historically accurate tale of one tumbleweed that did not tumble. ![]()
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