tumbleweed, plant that breaks away from its roots and is driven about by the wind as a light rolling mass, scattering seeds as it goes. Examples include pigweed (Amaranth retroflexus, a widespread weed in the western United States) and other amaranths, tumbling mustard, Russian thistle, the steppe plant Colutea arborea, and the grass Spinifex of Indonesian shores and Australian steppes.