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sensitive plant, shameplant

catclaw Mimosa

Habit Herbs or subshrubs, erect or decumbent, 0.3–1 m, armed. Shrubs, erect, 1–2 m, armed.
Stems

ribbed to striate, hispid or glabrous;

prickles infrastipular, paired, also sparse along internodes, recurved.

terete, tomentulose or glabrescent;

prickles infrastipular, paired, usually recurved, rarely straight.

Leaves

stipules lanceolate, 7–12 mm, glabrous to sparsely setose;

petiole 1–4.5 cm;

primary rachis 0–2.5 mm;

pinnae 1 or 2 pairs, digitate;

leaflets 15–25 pairs, blades obliquely linear-oblong, 5–10 × 2–2.5 mm, margins setose, 1 eccentric vein prominent abaxially, apex acute to mucronate, surfaces glabrous.

stipules linear to subulate, 2–4 mm, puberulent;

petiole 0.1–0.7 cm;

primary rachis 0.3–2 cm;

pinnae 2–8 pairs;

leaflets 5–9(–12) pairs, blades obliquely oblong, 2–4 × 0.4–1.3 mm, margins ciliate, reticulate veins slightly visible abaxially, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces puberulent or glabrous abaxially, glabrous adaxially.

Inflorescences

95–125-flowered, axillary, globose or subglobose capitula, solitary or fascicles of 2 or 3, also disposed in racemiform branches, 10–15 mm diam.;

bracts linear to lanceolate, 1/2–2/3 corolla length.

17–40-flowered, axillary, globose capitula, solitary or in fascicles of 2 or 3, 8–12 mm diam.;

bracts spatulate, 1/4–1/2 corolla length.

Peduncles

1–3 cm.

0.7–1.5 cm.

Pedicels

0 mm.

0 mm.

Flowers

bisexual;

calyx campanulate, lobes 4, 1/10 corolla length;

corolla pink, glabrous, lobes 4, 1/4 corolla length;

stamens 4, filaments distinct to base, lilac;

ovary sessile to shortly stipitate, glabrous;

style attenuate at apex;

stigma poriform.

bisexual;

calyx campanulate, lobes 5, (1/3–)1/2–3/4 corolla length;

corolla white or purplish pink on lobes, tomentose or tomentulose, lobes 5, 1/4–1/3 corolla length;

stamens 10, filaments distinct to bases, white;

ovary stipitate, glabrous or pubescent;

style attenuate at apex;

stigma poriform.

Legumes

sessile, straight, linear-oblong, 10–15 × 3–4 mm, constricted between seeds, valves with 2–5 segments, margin armed, long-setose, apex acuminate, faces glabrous.

sessile or stipitate, straight or curved, linear, 25–45 × 3–4 mm, constricted between seeds, valves entire, margin prickly or unarmed, apex acute to acuminate, faces glabrous;

stipe 0.5–1.5 mm.

Seeds

2–5, ochre, lenticular, 3–3.2 × 2.5–3 × 1–1.2 mm, testa smooth or porous, fissural line 90%.

3–8, dark brown, oblong, 3.5–6 × 2–2.7 × 1–1.8 mm, testa smooth or porous, fissural line 40–50%.

Mimosa pudica

Mimosa biuncifera

Phenology Flowering Jul–Jan; fruiting Jul–Jan. Flowering Apr–Aug; fruiting Sep–Dec.
Habitat Pinelands, secon­dary vegetation, burned or cleared pinelands. Sonoran desert, washes, drainage areas, sandy-clay soils, riparian forest in desert grasslands, scattered oaks in broad canyon bottoms, roadsides.
Elevation 0–40 m. (0–100 ft.) 150–2700 m. (500–8900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; MD; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in tropical Asia, Africa, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas)
Discussion

Mimosa pudica is a pantropical species that has become established in Florida; C. F. Reed (1964) included M. pudica in the flora of the chrome and manganese ore piles at Canton, in the Port of Baltimore, Maryland; his record from Newport News, Virginia, cannot be verified, as that is an immature plant, probably corresponding to another species.

Varieties of Mimosa pudica were distinguished by J. P. M. Brenan (1959) in tropical East Africa. R. C. Barneby (1991) proposed a modified key to varieties; however, they are not clearly delimited in American populations. Available specimens from the flora area cannot be determined at the infraspecific level.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Mimosa flexuosa Bentham is an illegitimate name that pertains here.

Mimosa biuncifera is widely distributed in Arizona. It occurs in the southern half of New Mexico, and in central and western Texas, from McLennon County in the east, Floyd and Lamb counties in the north, Uvalde County in the south, and El Paso County in the west.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Caesalpinioideae (Mimosoid clade) > Mimosa Fabaceae > subfam. Caesalpinioideae (Mimosoid clade) > Mimosa
Sibling taxa
M. biuncifera, M. borealis, M. distachya, M. dysocarpa, M. emoryana, M. grahamii, M. hystricina, M. latidens, M. malacophylla, M. microphylla, M. monclovensis, M. nuttallii, M. pigra, M. quadrivalvis, M. roemeriana, M. rupertiana, M. strigillosa, M. texana, M. turneri
M. borealis, M. distachya, M. dysocarpa, M. emoryana, M. grahamii, M. hystricina, M. latidens, M. malacophylla, M. microphylla, M. monclovensis, M. nuttallii, M. pigra, M. pudica, M. quadrivalvis, M. roemeriana, M. rupertiana, M. strigillosa, M. texana, M. turneri
Synonyms M. pudica var. unijuga M. aculeaticarpa var. biuncifera, M. biuncifera var. flexuosa, M. biuncifera var. lindheimeri, M. lindheimeri, M. warnockii, Mimosopsis biuncifera, M. flexuosa, M. lindheimeri
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 518. (1753) Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 12. (1839)
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