How Does a Mimosa Plant Protect Itself?
Mimosa plants are unusual ornamental plants. While they are uniquely beautiful, they are also a scientific curiosity. They are known as the "sensitive plant" because they react to the sensation of touch. Does this Spark an idea?
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The Mimosa Plant
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The botanical name for this annual sub shrub is Plantae Magnoliophyta Magnoliopsida Rosidae Fabales Mimosaceae. Although it's native to Brazil, being one of 400 tropical species of its kind, it's popular globally as an ornamental flower. Its bipinnately compound leaves are pale green and fern-like, and it grows to a height of about two feet, featuring slender reddish-brown stems. Lilac or pink flowers appearing as globose heads bloom in the summer along with small pods of sticky seeds. It prefers medium sunlight and moist, well-drained soil and is sensitive to both drought and frost. In America, it is grown mostly as a show plant indoors to display its beauty and unique qualities, and in Brazil it is now considered a pan-tropical weed.
Sensitive to Touch
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The mimosa plant does not like to be touched. The mimosa plant is extremely sensitive to both touch and proximity to objects, and it has an automatic reflex that protects itself from anything alien. When a leaf is touched, it will curl and close up immediately so that it appears almost dead. If several leaves on one branch are touched or moved, every leaf will curl and droop, and the entire branch will droop down. If there is movement that affects the plant as a whole, every branch will collapse, giving any predator the impression that it's dead.
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Protection
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Mimosa plants close up during the night. The mimosa pudica goes into a "sleep" mode known as nyctinastic movement during darkness when it collapses completely, disguising itself as dead, and then opens again in the daylight. With any kind of movement, such as wind, rain or shaking that seems threatening, it will close up and completely droop.
Sharp to the Touch
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Not only does the plant appear dead when touched, but the underside of the leaves are ragged and its stems are covered in tiny prickles that deter animals or people from touching them once the plant is in the protected position. Also, there are bristles on the seed pods that stick to anything that gets near them. When several minutes have passed with no movement near the plant, it will rise up and the leaves will open up again.
Toxic
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The juices of the mimosa are poisonous, which protects it from being eaten, and the prickles on the stems and leaves are also toxic, which deters any intruders from touching it. The plant has no known medicinal properties, although it's currently being researched by pharmaceutical companies for medicinal value.
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- Photo Credit mimosa image by Carmichael from Fotolia.com hand image by Soja Andrzej from Fotolia.com Night time sky and moon image by Heather Ferrebee from Fotolia.com
