Mimosa pudica |
Mimosa dysocarpa |
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sensitive plant, shameplant |
velvetpod Mimosa |
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Habit | Herbs or subshrubs, erect or decumbent, 0.3–1 m, armed. | Shrubs, erect, 0.7–1.5 m, armed. |
Stems | ribbed to striate, hispid or glabrous; prickles infrastipular, paired, also sparse along internodes, recurved. |
terete, tomentose or glabrescent; prickles irregular along internodes, recurved or 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, 4–7 mm, tomentose; petiole 0.6–1 cm; primary rachis 2.5–7.5 cm; pinnae 5–11 pairs; leaflets 6–14 pairs, blades obliquely linear-lanceolate or lanceolate-oblong, 3–6 × 1–2.5 mm, margins sericeous, 1 or 2 eccentric veins prominent, apex acute, mucronulate, surfaces light green, sericeous abaxially, dark green, glaucous, sericeous or 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. |
50–150-flowered, axillary, spikes, solitary, in fascicles of 2 or 3, or aggregated in racemes, 20–50(–80) mm; bracts linear-spatulate, 1/3–1/2 corolla length. |
Peduncles | 1–3 cm. |
1–1.5(–2) 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 and staminate; calyx campanulate, lobes 4 or 5, 1/2 corolla length; corolla purple-pink, densely sericeous, lobes 4 or 5, 1/3–1/2 corolla length; stamens 8 or 10, filaments distinct to bases, pink; ovary sessile, tomentose; 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, straight or curved, linear-oblong, 40–50 × 5–7 mm, constricted between seeds, valves with (2–)4–9 segments, margin unarmed or sparsely prickly, apex apiculate, faces tomentose. |
Seeds | 2–5, ochre, lenticular, 3–3.2 × 2.5–3 × 1–1.2 mm, testa smooth or porous, fissural line 90%. |
(2–)4–9, reddish brown, lenticular, 5 × 4 × 3 mm, testa smooth, fissural line 50%. |
Mimosa pudica |
Mimosa dysocarpa |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Jan; fruiting Jul–Jan. | Flowering Jun–Sep; fruiting Sep. |
Habitat | Pinelands, secondary vegetation, burned or cleared pinelands. | Dry scrublands, open slopes, desert grasslands, steep rocky slopes with oaks, pines, and grasses. |
Elevation | 0–40 m. (0–100 ft.) | 1200–2200 m. (3900–7200 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL; MD; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in tropical Asia, Africa, Australia]
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AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora, Zacatecas)
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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 dysocarpa is known from Cochise, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yavapai counties in Arizona, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, and Socorro counties in New Mexico, and Brewster, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties in Texas. (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 | ||
Synonyms | M. pudica var. unijuga | M. dysocarpa var. wrightii, M. wrightii |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 518. (1753) | Bentham: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 62. (1852) |
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