Mimosa is a genus of about 600 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. Species are native to the Americas, from North Dakota to northern Argentina, and to eastern Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar) as well as the Indian subcontinent and Indochina.

Two species in the genus are especially notable. One is Mimosa pudica, commonly known as touch-me-not, which folds its leaves when touched or exposed to heat. It is native to southern Central and South America but is widely cultivated elsewhere for its curiosity value, both as a houseplant in temperate areas, and outdoors in the tropics. Outdoor cultivation has led to weedy invasion in some areas, notably Hawaii. The other is Mimosa tenuiflora, which is best known for its use in shamanic ayahuasca brews due to the psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine found in its root bark.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the genus Mimosa has gone through several periods of splitting and lumping, ultimately accumulating over 3,000 names, many of which have either been synonymized under other species or transferred to other genera. In part due to these changing circumscriptions, the name "Mimosa" has also been applied to several other related species with similar pinnate or bipinnate leaves, but are now classified in other genera. The most common examples of this are Albizia julibrissin (Persian silk tree) and Acacia dealbata (wattle).

Description

thumb|[[Mimosa pudica leaves closing when touched]]

Members of this genus are among the few plants capable of rapid movement; examples outside of Mimosa include the telegraph plant, Aldrovanda, some species of Drosera and the Venus flytrap. The leaves of the Mimosa pudica close quickly when touched. Some mimosas raise their leaves in the day and lower them at night, and experiments done by Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan on mimosas in 1729 provided the first evidence of biological clocks.

Mimosa can be distinguished from the large related genera, Acacia and Albizia, since its flowers have ten or fewer stamens. Botanically, what appears to be a single globular flower is actually a cluster of many individual ones. Mimosas contain some level of heptanoic acid.

Species

thumb|[[Mimosa pudica]]

thumb|[[Mimosa diplotricha in Kerala, India]]

thumb|[[Mimosa scabrella in London]]

thumb|[[Mimosa pigra in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia]]

There are about 590 species including:

  • Mimosa aculeaticarpa <small>Ortega</small>

<!-- Mimosa adhaerens was reclassified as Mimosa albida. -->

<!-- Mimosa adstringens was reclassified as Vachellia nilotica. -->

  • Mimosa andina <small>Benth.</small>

<!-- Mimosa angustifolia was reclassified as Senegalia angustifolia. -->

<!-- Mimosa angustissima was reclassified as Acacia suaveolens. -->

  • Mimosa arenosa <small>(Willd.) Poir.</small>

<!-- Mimosa asak was reclassified as Senegalia asak. -->

  • Mimosa asperata <small>L.</small>
  • Mimosa borealis <small>Gray</small>
  • Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia <small>Benth.</small>

<!-- Mimosa caesia was reclassified as Senegalia caesia. -->

<!-- Mimosa caffra was reclassified as Senegalia caffra. -->

<!-- Mimosa carthagenensis was reclassified as Senegalia riparia. -->

  • Mimosa casta <small>L.</small>

<!-- Mimosa concinna was reclassified as Senegalia rugata. -->

  • Mimosa cupica <small>Gray</small>
  • Mimosa ceratonia <small>L.</small>
  • Mimosa diplotricha <small>C.Wright ex Sauvalle</small>
  • Mimosa disperma <small>Barneby</small>
  • Mimosa distachya <small>Cav.</small>
  • Mimosa dysocarpa <small>Benth.</small>
  • Mimosa emoryana <small>Benth.</small>

<!-- Mimosa farnesiana was reclassified as Vachellia farnesiana. -->

<!-- Mimosa flava was reclassified as Vachellia flava. -->

  • Mimosa grahamii <small>Gray</small>

<!-- Mimosa grandisiliqua was reclassified as Senegalia tenuifolia. -->

  • Mimosa hamata <small>Willd.</small>

<!-- Mimosa horrida was reclassified as Vachellia horrida. -->

<!-- Mimosa hostilis is synonym of Mimosa tenuiflora-->

  • Mimosa hystricina <small>(Small ex Britt. et Rose) B.L.Turner</small>

<!-- Mimosa ignava was reclassified as Senegalia rostrata. -->

<!-- Mimosa intsia was reclassified as Senegalia intsia. -->

  • Mimosa invisa <small>Martius ex Colla</small>
  • Mimosa latidens <small>(Small) B.L. Turner</small>
  • Mimosa laxiflora <small>Benth.</small>

<!-- Mimosa leucophloea was reclassified as Vachellia leucophloea. -->

  • Mimosa loxensis <small>Barneby</small>
  • Mimosa malacophylla <small>Gray</small>

<!-- Mimosa martiusiana was reclassified as Senegalia martiusiana. -->

<!-- Mimosa mellifera was reclassified as Senegalia mellifera. -->

  • Mimosa microphylla <small>Dry.</small>

<!-- Mimosa muricata was reclassified as Parasenegalia muricata. -->

<!-- Mimosa nilotica was reclassified as Vachellia nilotica. -->

  • Mimosa nothacacia <small>Barneby</small>

<!-- Mimosa nudiflora was reclassified as Senegalia muricata. -->

  • Mimosa nuttallii <small>(DC.) B.L. Turner</small>

<!-- Mimosa oeforta was reclassified as Vachellia oeforta. -->

  • Mimosa ophthalmocentra <small>Mart. ex Benth. 1865</small>
  • Mimosa pellita <small>Kunth ex Willd.</small>

<!-- Mimosa pentagona was reclassified as Senegalia pentagona. -->

  • Mimosa pigra <small>L.</small>

<!-- Mimosa plana is an illegitimate binomial. -->

  • Mimosa polycarpa <small>Kunth</small>
  • Mimosa pudica <small>L.</small>
  • Mimosa quadrivalvis <small>L.</small>
  • Mimosa quadrivalvis var. hystricina <small>(Small) Barneby</small>
  • Mimosa quadrivalvis var. quadrivalvis <small>L.</small>

<!-- Mimosa retusa was reclassified as Senegalia riparia. -->

  • Mimosa roemeriana <small>Scheele</small>

<!-- Mimosa rostrata was reclassified as Senegalia rostrata. -->

  • Mimosa rubicaulis <small>Lam.</small>

<!-- Mimosa rugata was reclassified as Senegalia rugata. -->

  • Mimosa rupertiana <small>B.L. Turner</small>

<!-- Mimosa sarmentosa was reclassified as Senegalia riparia. -->

  • Mimosa scabrella <small>Benth.</small>
  • Mimosa schomburgkii <small>Benth.</small>

<!-- Mimosa senegal was reclassified as Senegalia senegal. -->

<!-- Mimosa senegalensis was reclassified as Senegalia senegalensis. -->

  • Mimosa somnians <small>Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.</small>
  • Mimosa strigillosa <small>Torr. et Gray</small>

<!-- Mimosa tamarindifolia was reclassified as Senegalia tamarindifolia. -->

  • Mimosa tenuiflora <small>(Willd.) Poir.</small> (= Mimosa hostilis)

<!-- Mimosa tenuifolia was reclassified as Senegalia tenuifolia. -->

  • Mimosa texana <small>(Gray) Small</small>

<!-- Mimosa tomentosa was reclassified as Vachellia tomentosa. -->

<!-- Mimosa torta was reclassified as Senegalia torta. -->

<!-- Mimosa tortillis was reclassified as Vachellia tortillis. -->

  • Mimosa townsendii <small>Barneby</small>
  • Mimosa turneri <small>Barneby</small>
  • Mimosa verrucosa <small>Benth.</small>

References

  • Mimosa-pudica.de
  • Two small videos showing the plant folding its leaves