32 
SEED DISPERSAL. 
ready to sacrifice the rest of her body to be tumbled 
about, broken in pieces, and scattered in every direction 
for the good of her precious progeny, most of whom will 
find new places, where they will stand a chance the next 
summer to grow into plants. Sometimes the winds are 
not severe enough or long enough continued, and these 
old skeletons are rolled into ditches, piled so high in 
great rows or masses against fences that some are rolled 
over the rest and pass on beyond. Occasionally some 
lodge in the tops of low trees, and many are entangled 
by straggling bushes. In a day or two, or in a week, or 
a month, the shifting wind may once more start these 
wrecks in other directions, to be broken up and scatter 
seeds along their pathway. 
During the Middle Ages in southern Egypt and Arabia, 
and eastward, a small plant, with most of the peculiarities 
of our tumbleweed just described, was often seen, and was 
thought to be a great wonder. It was called the “ rose 
of Jericho,” though it is not a rose at all, but a first 
cousin to the mustard, and only a small affair at that, 
scarcely as large as a cabbage head. A number of other 
plants of this habit are well known on dry plains in 
various parts of the world ; one of the most prominent in 
the northern United States is called the Russian thistle, 
which was introduced from Russia with flaxseed. In 
Dakota, often two, three, or more grow into a community, 
making when dry and mature a stiff ball two to three 
feet or more in diameter. 
