 Best Sellers Shameplant, Sensitive Plant, Shy Plant, Humble Plant, Sleeping Grass, Touch-Me-Not, Lajjalu, Bashful Mimosa Mimosa pudica Detailed Listing For Botanical Name: Mimosa pudica Common Name: Shameplant, Sensitive Plant, Shy Plant, Humble Plant, Sleeping Grass, Touch-Me-Not, Lajjalu, Bashful Mimosa Average Viable Seeds/Packet: 49 Germination Test Type:  Cut (Full Seed) Minimum Hardiness Zone: 10 In Stock: 38.71 lb Prices Items are priced on a curve, you can buy any 'bulk quantity' up to what we have in stock, some examples are: 1 packet (~ 49 seeds) $4.95 10 gram (~ 2200 seeds) $13.50 1 oz (~ 6236 seeds) $16.95 1 lb (~ 99780 seeds) $64.50 1 kg (~ 219977 seeds) $128.00 | | | Growing Info, follow in order: Scarification: Pour boiling water over seed , let stand in water for 24 hours, repeat process on seed that did not imbibe. Stratification: none required. Germination: sow seed 1/8" deep, tamp the soil, mulch the seed bed. | In a Nutshell: *
Grown mostly as a curiosity, for the compound leaflets fold up promptly along the midrib when touched. * An attractive plant with small pink flowers, can be grown as an annual in cold areas, native to the tropics. more... * The stem is erect in young plants, but becomes creeping or trailing with age. * Aqueous extracts of the roots of the plant have shown significant neutralizing effects in the lethality of the venom of the monocled cobra (Naja Kaouthia). more... |
[ edit ] Description Mimosa pudica folding leaflets inward. Mimosa pudica seeds Mimosa pudica in Goa , India . The fruit of Mimosa pudica The stem is erect in young plants, but becomes creeping or trailing with age. The stem is slender, branching, and sparsely to densely prickly, growing to a length of 1.5 m (5 ft). The leaves of the mimosa pudica are compound leaves.The leaves are bipinnately compound, with one or two pinnae pairs, and 10-26 leaflets per pinna. The petioles are also prickly. Pedunculate (stalked) pale pink or purple flower heads arise from the leaf axils. The globose to ovoid heads are 8–10 mm in diameter (excluding the stamens). On close examination, it is seen that the floret petals are red in their upper part and the filaments are pink to lavender. The fruit consists of clusters of 2-8 pods from 1–2 cm long each, these prickly on the margins. The pods break into 2-5 segments and contain pale brown seeds some 2.5 mm long. The flowers are pollinated by the wind and insects. [ 2 ] The seeds have hard seed coats which restrict germination. [ 3 ] [ edit ] Plant movement Video clip showing leaves closing after being touched Mimosa pudica is well known for its rapid plant movement . Mimosa pudica with leaves closed Like a number of other plant species, it undergoes changes in leaf orientation termed "sleep" or nyctinastic movement. The foliage closes during darkness and reopens in light. [ 4 ] The leaves also close under various other stimuli, such as touching, warming, blowing, or shaking. These types of movements have been termed seismonastic movements. The movement occurs when specific regions of cells lose turgor pressure , which is the force that is applied onto the cell wall by water within the cell vacuoles and other cell contents. When the plant is disturbed, specific regions on the stems are stimulated to release chemicals including potassium ions which force water out of the cell vacuoles and the water diffuses out of the cells, producing a loss of cell pressure and cell collapse; this differential turgidity between different regions of cells results in the closing of the leaflets and the collapse of the leaf petiole . This characteristic is quite common within the Mimosoideae subfamily of the legume family, Fabaceae . The stimulus can also be transmitted to neighboring leaves. It is not known exactly why Mimosa pudica evolved this trait, but many scientists think that the plant uses its ability to shrink as a defense from predators. Animals may be afraid of a fast moving plant and would rather eat a less active one. Another possible explanation is that the sudden movement dislodges harmful insects. [ citation needed ] |
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