Flowers in Israel: Gundelia tournefortii, Galgal, Tumbleweed (Hebrew: Akuvit ha-galgal, עכובית הגלגל; Arabic: 'akkub, akoub or kardi in conversational Arabic, as well as

The gundelia, is an edible spiny, thistle-like flowering plant, a member of the Aster family (Asteracea or Compositae). A member of this genus, tumbleweed Gundelia tournefortii, Galgal came under the spotlights in 1998, when its pollen grains were found on the Shroud of Turin. In modern Hebrew it is called Akuvit ha-galgal.” This name combines the Talmudic name for the plant (akkub), which survives in the modern Arabic name for the plant, with the Biblical Galgal. This species native to semi-desert areas of Jerusalem and the Near East is related to thistles and artichokes.

Some Bible scholars think that the tumbleweed of Psalm 83: 14 (“Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like galgal before the wind”) is akoub.
By the metaphor of galgal, the Psalmist is asking the Lord to make Israel’s enemies like galgal: although they look frightening, their base is weak. The whole plant can be driven by the wind and it will be gone.The use of this plant is apparently quite old, being mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud and the Bible. This is the plant called silybum by Dioscorides. Gundelia tournefortii blooms in Israel from February (in the semi-desert warm parts) to May (in Jerusalem). Some gather these plants in the wild for culinary purposes.
In March akoub plants are cut at the base and the prickles removed. The edible parts are the leaves, stems, roots, and undeveloped flower buds, the last mentioned being the most popular. The soft white part of the young leaves, the part between the root and the soil surface, is used by Bedouin and Arabs to make akkub soup. The most popular preparation for gundelia in the Palestinian Arab villages of northern Israel is one where the heads are cleaned and covered with a chopped meat mixture, they are fried in olive oil and then simmered in a lemony broth. The plant tastes like a cross between asparagus and artichoke. By mid-May, the akoub stem has separated from the root, allowing the entire plant to be carried by the wind. The whole plant is round—so that it can roll like a ball. When the seeds of the dead fruit are ready to be dispersed, the base of the stem is disconnected from the thick root by means of an especially weak tissue which develops at just the right time. The plant then rolls, driven by the wind, dispersing its seeds on steppe and field. (Galgal also means wheel in Hebrew; the plant’s name probably derived from its habit of rolling across the fields like a wheel).
Just before the round plant disconnects from the root, the plant appears frightening indeed—full of thistles and strong and stable looking. In fact the base of the plant is extremely weak and the whole plant can be easily driven by the wind. The sound of dry galgal plants rolling with the wind is a memorable experience to those who live amid these plants.Akoub’s dispersal takes place at about the same time as wheat harvest as indicated by the prophet Isaiah (17: 13)–“driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed (galgal) before a gale”.