''Mimosa'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of about 600 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. Species are native to the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, from North Dakota to northern Argentina, and to eastern Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar) as well as the Indian subcontinent and Indochina. The generic name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word (''mimos''), 'actor' or 'mime', and the feminine suffix -''osa'', 'resembling', suggesting its 'sensitive leaves' which seem to 'mimic conscious life'. 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 South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

America but is widely cultivated elsewhere for its curiosity value, both as a

houseplant A houseplant, also known as a pot plant, potted plant, or indoor plant, is an ornamental plant cultivated indoors. for aesthetic or practical purposes. These plants are commonly found in House, homes, Office, offices, and various indoor spaces, w ...

in temperate areas, and outdoors in the tropics. Outdoor cultivation has led to

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

in some areas, notably

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. The other is '' Mimosa tenuiflora'', which is best known for its use in shamanic

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

brews due to the psychedelic drug

dimethyltryptamine Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), also known as ''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (''N'',''N''-DMT), is a Psychedelic drug, serotonergic hallucinogen and Investigational New Drug, investigational drug of the substituted tryptamine, tryptamine family tha ...

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 ''Albizia julibrissin'', the Persian silk tree, pink silk tree, or mimosa tree, is a species of tree in the Fabaceae family, native to Western Asia, southwestern and East Asia, eastern Asia. Taxonomy It was introduced to Europe in the mid-18th ...

'' (Persian silk tree) and '' Acacia dealbata'' (wattle).

Description

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 ''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genus, genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucil ...

'' 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.Neuroscience; Bear, Connors, Paradiso ''Mimosa'' can be distinguished from the large related genera, ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

'' and '' Albizia'', since its flowers have ten or fewer

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s. 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

There are about 590 species including: *'' Mimosa aculeaticarpa'' Ortega *'' Mimosa andina'' Benth. *'' Mimosa arenosa'' (Willd.) Poir. *'' Mimosa asperata'' L. *'' Mimosa borealis'' Gray *'' Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia'' Benth. *'' Mimosa casta'' L. *'' Mimosa cupica'' Gray *'' Mimosa ceratonia'' L. *'' Mimosa diplotricha'' C.Wright ''ex'' Sauvalle *'' Mimosa disperma'' Barneby *'' Mimosa distachya'' Cav. *'' Mimosa dysocarpa'' Benth. *'' Mimosa emoryana'' Benth. *'' Mimosa grahamii'' Gray *'' Mimosa hamata'' Willd. *'' Mimosa hystricina'' (Small ex Britt. et Rose) B.L.Turner *'' Mimosa invisa'' Martius ''ex'' Colla *'' Mimosa latidens'' (Small) B.L. Turner *'' Mimosa laxiflora'' Benth. *'' Mimosa loxensis'' Barneby *'' Mimosa malacophylla'' Gray *'' Mimosa microphylla'' Dry. *'' Mimosa nothacacia'' Barneby *'' Mimosa nuttallii'' (DC.) B.L. Turner *'' Mimosa ophthalmocentra'' Mart. ex Benth. 1865 *'' Mimosa pellita'' Kunth ex Willd. *'' Mimosa pigra'' L. *'' Mimosa polycarpa'' Kunth *'' Mimosa pudica'' L. *'' Mimosa quadrivalvis'' L. **''Mimosa quadrivalvis'' var. ''hystricina'' (Small) Barneby **''Mimosa quadrivalvis'' var. ''quadrivalvis'' L. *'' Mimosa roemeriana'' Scheele *'' Mimosa rubicaulis'' Lam. *'' Mimosa rupertiana'' B.L. Turner *'' Mimosa scabrella'' Benth. *'' Mimosa schomburgkii'' Benth. *'' Mimosa somnians'' Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. *'' Mimosa strigillosa'' Torr. et Gray *'' Mimosa tenuiflora'' (Willd.) Poir. (= ''Mimosa hostilis'') *'' Mimosa texana'' (Gray) Small *'' Mimosa townsendii'' Barneby *'' Mimosa turneri'' Barneby *'' Mimosa verrucosa''

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

References

External links

Mimosa-pudica.de

{{Authority control Articles containing video clips Fabaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus