Cfye (Dfyio Ztaturalist 
PUBLISHED BY 
THE BIOLOGICAL CLUB OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY 
Yol. J. MARCH, 1901 No. 5 
PERENNIAL TUMBLEWEEDS. 
John H. Schaffner. 
Tumbleweeds may be classified under three general heads: 
Annual tumbleweeds, 
Tumble-grasses, 
Perennial tumbleweeds. 
The annual tumbleweeds are mostly plants with a small root 
system which shrivels up or rots away soon after the seed has 
matured. The plants are then easily torn from the ground or broken 
off and go tumbling away before the wind. In some cases the roots 
become quite fleshy and brittle. In the tumble-grasses the panicle 
is generally the only part which is transported, the stems of the 
panicle being usually very brittle and breaking readily even in those 
forms which are easily torn up from the roots. 
Fig. 1. Psoralea floribunda. Plant growing on prairie. Clay Co., Kan. 
