Wendella's Wings: The Truth about Tumbleweed

My memories of life in the desert have almost invariably included images of that ubiquitous, errant, dried brush--tumbleweed--caught on the fence surrounding the Naval station, rolling across the road in the path of our car, needling my legs as it's atomized by the spokes of my bicycle. Even more than sage or creosote, tumbleweed stood out for me as the characteristic ground cover along the highway stretching from Lancaster to Little Lake.

I was mistaken, however. The dominant plant that I've always associated with the desert is more likely a shadscale scrub, possibly four-wing saltbush, a perennial native to the area. Although related to tumbleweed, it doesn't have the prickly leaves that dry up and blow havoc throughout the desert.

Probably some type of saltbush

But tumbleweed, an annual, gives up the ghost after a brief but hearty life, and breaks away in the fall to wander aimlessly and sow its seeds indiscriminately. It is at once the presumed bane of desert life and a peculiar symbol of western individualism--as in the old Bob Nolan song, which we sang with conviction on long road trips in our Hudson:

See them tumbling down
Pledging their love to the ground
Lonely but free I'll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds

It's also a noxious invasive. Russian Thistle, a member of the goosefoot family of plants, is native to Southeastern Russia and western Siberia, and came to South Dakota in the 1870s by way of contaminated flax seed brought by Russian immigrants. It traveled by railroad in cars transporting cattle to Lancaster, California and, like many who have visited the Golden State, decided to stay. According to the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program (http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7486.html), our maverick tumbleweed affects agricultural yields, depletes soil moisture, harbors pests and crop diseases, interferes with water delivery along the California aqueduct, and threatens native plant ecosystems. It also can trigger contact dermatitis and allergies.

Who'da thunk? All these years I just accepted it as a natural inconvenience of desert life.

Efforts have been made over the years to eradicate or control Russian Thistle, which is now known to comprise more than one species and a few hybrids to boot. Although some biological control agents are still being tested, the default strategy is herbicides.

Where am I going with this? Am I about to make an analogy between the unintended consequences of importing agricultural products and the potential damage wrought by fracking or offshore oil drilling? Am I leaning toward supporting xenophobic GM crops that would help eradicate this alien pest? Is this an indictment of rugged individualism? Am I railing against the widespread disregard of humans in general to the impact they might have on the environment due to any and all activities to which they feel entitled by virtue of being human?

Or am I just drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds?