kristenwarren's Identifications

Tumbleweeds are ubiquitous in the high grasslands of Rita Blanca, but most plants were still relatively small (3rd image). The abundance of the species can be gauged by the 15-ft-tall piles of dried tumbleweeds blown up against this windrow of Russian Olive in this particular unit of the National Grassland.

This very old (and dying) windrow of Russian Olive has been here forever, it seems. I recall coming up to the Panhandle to look for Long-eared Owls at this site back in the early 1980s. The owls roost in the Russian Olive trees. In my June visit, the windrow was half-buried in Tumbleweeds from the previous year's crop.