Mimosa pudica |
Mimosa nuttallii |
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sensitive plant, shameplant |
catclaw sensitivebriar, Nuttall's sensitive-briar |
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Habit | Herbs or subshrubs, erect or decumbent, 0.3–1 m, armed. | Herbs or subshrubs, prostrate or sprawling, 0.5–0.8 m, armed. |
Stems | ribbed to striate, hispid or glabrous; prickles infrastipular, paired, also sparse along internodes, recurved. |
ribbed, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent; prickles along ribs, recurved. |
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 narrowly lanceolate, 4.5–8 mm, glabrous; petiole 2–4 cm; primary rachis 3–7 cm; pinnae 4–7(or 8) pairs; leaflets 11–16 pairs, blades obliquely oblong to elliptic, 4.5–6 × 1.8–2.5 mm, margins ciliate, reticulate veins prominent abaxially, apex acute, mucronate, surfaces glabrous. |
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. |
90–140-flowered, axillary, globose capitula, solitary and in racemes 130–200 mm, 20–30 mm diam.; bracts spatulate, 1/3–1/2 corolla length. |
Peduncles | 1–3 cm. |
3.5–9.5 cm. |
Pedicels | 0 mm. |
0.2–0.9 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 5(or 6), 1/10 corolla length; corolla purplish pink, glabrous, lobes 5(or 6), 1/3–1/2 corolla length; stamens 10(or 12), filaments connate at bases, pink; ovary stipitate, glabrous; style attenuate at apex; stigma narrowly cupuliform or tubular. |
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, 40–120 × 3–4.5 mm, not constricted between seeds, valves entire, 1–2.5 mm wide, margin 2–4 mm wide, prickly, prickles sometimes connate at bases, apex rostrate, rostrum 5–20 mm, faces glabrous. |
Seeds | 2–5, ochre, lenticular, 3–3.2 × 2.5–3 × 1–1.2 mm, testa smooth or porous, fissural line 90%. |
4–15, reddish brown, lenticular or rhomboid, 4.2 × 3.2 × 2 mm, testa porous, fissural line 90%. |
Mimosa pudica |
Mimosa nuttallii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Jan; fruiting Jul–Jan. | Flowering Apr–Oct; fruiting Jun–Oct. |
Habitat | Pinelands, secondary vegetation, burned or cleared pinelands. | Woods, mesic to xeric prairies, dry woods, oak woods. |
Elevation | 0–40 m. (0–100 ft.) | 0–1300 m. (0–4300 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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AR; CO; DC; IA; IL; KS; LA; MI; MO; ND; NE; NM; OK; PA; SD; TX; WI
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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 nuttallii is the most widespread species of the genus in the United States. It superficially resembles M. hystricina, but the two are largely allopatric (B. L. Turner 1994e), although D. Isely (1973) reported occasional intermediates between these two closely related taxa in northern Louisiana. Furthermore, Isely (1986) considered M. hystricina as a variety of M. nuttallii. (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 | Leptoglottis nuttallii, L. mimosoides, M. quadrivalvis var. nuttallii, Schrankia nuttallii |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 518. (1753) | (de Candolle ex Torrey & A. Gray) B. L. Turner: Phytologia 76: 417. (1994) |
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