Mimosa pudica famous for its rapid movement is also known by the names of sensitive plant, sleepy plant which is now a troublesome panatropic alpine. The touch-me-not experiencing seismonastic movements, is a crawling blossom or persistent species of herb found in South and Central America as it sprouts up mostly under shade of trees or shrubs.
Its leaves are bipinnately compound leaves with one or two pinnae per pairs having 10-26 leaflets in a single pinna which fold and bend themselves inwards often when touched in order to protect from the beasts of prey, re-opening after few minutes. It is also to other stimuli such as warming, blowing, or shaking to grow for its curiosity value .This happens occurs when specific regions of cells lose hydrostatic pressure applied onto the cell wall by water within the cell vacuoles and other cell contents which results in the closing of the leaflets and the collapse of the spiny leaf petioles. It is a common characteristic within the Mimosoidae, a subfamily of the legume family, Fabaceae.
The stem is vertical in young plants, but becomes creeping or trailing with duration hovering very low and becomes droopy. The stem is slim, branchy, and barely to densely thorny, shooting up to a length of 1.5 m (5 ft).Pedunculate(stalked) pale pink or purple flower heads develops from the leaf axils in midsummer with floret petals which are red in their upper part and the filaments are pink to lavender. The fruit consists of clusters of 2–8 pods each 1–2 cm long breaking into 2–5 segments The flowers are fertilized by the wind and insects.The seeds have harsh seed coats restricting germination and undergo alterations in leaf orientation. The leafage closes during darkness and reopens in light. Propogation is usually by seed.
Mimosa pudica form root nodules sustained by nitrogen fixing bacteria converting the atmospheric nitrogen into a suitable form to be used by plants. It is often cultivated as an indoor herb containing the toxic alkaloid mimosine. It affects crops like corn, coconuts, tomatoes, cotton, coffee, bananas, soybeans, papaya, and sugar cane.
Mimosa Pudica is a resident of South America and Central America proceeding to many other region such as of Nigeria, Seychelles, Mauritius and East Asia. It is regarded as an invasive species in Tanzania, South and South-East Asia and in parts of Australia. It develops in Florida, Hawaii, Virginia, Maryland, Puerto Rico, Texas and the Virgin Islands.
Photos of Mimosa Pudica or Sensitive Plant
Videos Of crazy Mimosa pudica