A giant tumbleweed roughly the size of a Volkswagen beetle was spotted hurtling its way down a four-lane road in California this week.
A tumbleweed roughly the size of a car was captured on video this week and posted on X, where commenters compared it to a giant hairball, belly lint gone wild, and the critters from a 1986 sci-fi horror movie.
The jaunty brown bundle of brush was captured on video and posted on Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, where it has gathered a number of fans who have compared it to a giant hairball, belly lint gone wild, and the critters from the eponymously named 1986 sci-fi horror movie.
The poster of the video offered no information about the bouncing plant carcass, other than to say that it was “the mother of all tumbleweeds.” But that got us thinking. Not just about cowboys and classic Western movies, but about where tumbleweeds come from and their propensity for taking over roads and neighborhoods.
First off, tumbleweeds aren’t one specific species of plant. They fall under an umbrella of noxious weeds that when dry, break off at the root, setting off on a seed-spreading expedition.
