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Mimosa
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<h2 id="taxonomy">Taxonomy</h2> <p>The taxonomy of the genus <i>Mimosa</i> has gone through several periods of <a href="/facts/Splitting_and_lumping/PGAvGs8P">splitting and lumping</a>, ultimately accumulating over 3,000 names, many of which have either been <a href="/facts/Synonym_(taxonomy)/BHLdox7E">synonymized</a> under other species or transferred to other genera. In part due to these changing <a href="/facts/Circumscription_(taxonomy)/p2zNzcox">circumscriptions</a>, the name "Mimosa" has also been applied to several other related species with similar <a href="/facts/Pinnation/1tm6hMyo">pinnate or bipinnate</a> leaves, but are now classified in other genera. The most common examples of this are <i><a href="/facts/Albizia_julibrissin/aSKRUUDx">Albizia julibrissin</a></i> (Persian silk tree) and <i><a href="/facts/Acacia_dealbata/yNbCSVlx">Acacia dealbata</a></i> (wattle). </p> <h2 id="description">Description</h2> <p>Members of this genus are among the few plants capable of <a href="/facts/Rapid_plant_movement/Bm5LxWUC">rapid movement</a>; examples outside of <i>Mimosa</i> include the <a href="/facts/Telegraph_plant/8FWXvsry">telegraph plant</a>, <i><a href="/facts/Aldrovanda/9AhRJDca">Aldrovanda</a></i>, some species of <i><a href="/facts/Drosera/R5fHmgoe">Drosera</a></i> and the <a href="/facts/Venus_flytrap/psedt0H2">Venus flytrap</a>. The leaves of the <i>Mimosa pudica</i> close quickly when touched. Some mimosas raise their leaves in the day and lower them at night, and experiments done by <a href="/facts/Jean-Jacques_d%2527Ortous_de_Mairan/DJvpLzK1">Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan</a> on mimosas in 1729 provided the first evidence of biological clocks.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p><i>Mimosa</i> can be distinguished from the large related genera, <i><a href="/facts/Acacia/Lw9T7Hy6">Acacia</a></i> and <i><a href="/facts/Albizia/dU6tx2SE">Albizia</a></i>, since its flowers have ten or fewer <a href="/facts/Stamen/MzNPVK3D">stamens</a>. Botanically, what appears to be a single globular flower is actually a cluster of many individual ones. Mimosas contain some level of <a href="/facts/Heptanoic_acid/7aXULy3t">heptanoic acid</a>. </p> <h2 id="species">Species</h2> <p class="note">Main article: List of Mimosa species</p> <p>There are about 590 species including:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <ul><li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_aculeaticarpa/Dqc1EVtB">Mimosa aculeaticarpa</a></i> Ortega</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_andina/q7gMNv23">Mimosa andina</a></i> Benth.</li> <li><i>Mimosa arenosa</i> (Willd.) Poir.</li> <li><i>Mimosa asperata</i> L.</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_borealis/uaXct3XI">Mimosa borealis</a></i> Gray</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_caesalpiniaefolia/oBrILH0A">Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia</a></i> Benth.</li> <li><i>Mimosa casta</i> L.</li> <li><i>Mimosa cupica</i> Gray</li> <li><i>Mimosa ceratonia</i> L.</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_diplotricha/mubInv3s">Mimosa diplotricha</a></i> C.Wright <i>ex</i> Sauvalle</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_disperma/EhcjhSY1">Mimosa disperma</a></i> Barneby</li> <li><i>Mimosa distachya</i> Cav.</li> <li><i>Mimosa dysocarpa</i> Benth.</li> <li><i>Mimosa emoryana</i> Benth.</li> <li><i>Mimosa grahamii</i> Gray</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_hamata/nSqz7tmU">Mimosa hamata</a></i> Willd.</li> <li><i>Mimosa hystricina</i> (Small ex Britt. et Rose) B.L.Turner</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_invisa/BV2v7wkQ">Mimosa invisa</a></i> Martius <i>ex</i> Colla</li> <li><i>Mimosa latidens</i> (Small) B.L. Turner</li> <li><i>Mimosa laxiflora</i> Benth.</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_loxensis/6T1vYPN8">Mimosa loxensis</a></i> Barneby</li> <li><i>Mimosa malacophylla</i> Gray</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_microphylla/pRx4B1kW">Mimosa microphylla</a></i> Dry.</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_nothacacia/jtXURKrB">Mimosa nothacacia</a></i> Barneby</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_nuttallii/Jh69w86C">Mimosa nuttallii</a></i> (DC.) B.L. Turner</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_ophthalmocentra/T59J7Sud">Mimosa ophthalmocentra</a></i> Mart. ex Benth. 1865</li> <li><i>Mimosa pellita</i> Kunth ex Willd.</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_pigra/fIkvIEog">Mimosa pigra</a></i> L.</li> <li><i>Mimosa polycarpa</i> Kunth</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_pudica/vYcnBtEE">Mimosa pudica</a></i> L.</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_quadrivalvis/b7WoLDAg">Mimosa quadrivalvis</a></i> L. <ul><li><i>Mimosa quadrivalvis</i> var. <i>hystricina</i> (Small) Barneby</li> <li><i>Mimosa quadrivalvis</i> var. <i>quadrivalvis</i> L.</li></ul></li> <li><i>Mimosa roemeriana</i> Scheele</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_rubicaulis/Dhfv8kE7">Mimosa rubicaulis</a></i> Lam.</li> <li><i>Mimosa rupertiana</i> B.L. Turner</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_scabrella/tJhJWTDD">Mimosa scabrella</a></i> Benth.</li> <li><i>Mimosa schomburgkii</i> Benth.</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_somnians/5ADtzvc3">Mimosa somnians</a></i> Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_strigillosa/hC8PSkIF">Mimosa strigillosa</a></i> Torr. et Gray</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_tenuiflora/D1BXhSbj">Mimosa tenuiflora</a></i> (Willd.) Poir. (= <i>Mimosa hostilis</i>)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_texana/xnofjpFw">Mimosa texana</a></i> (Gray) Small</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_townsendii/6fIH9HfF">Mimosa townsendii</a></i> Barneby</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_turneri/fLhnGrF1">Mimosa turneri</a></i> Barneby</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Mimosa_verrucosa/NTPUXFPv">Mimosa verrucosa</a></i> <a href="/facts/George_Bentham/sqlE3Q7I">Benth.</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mimosa. <a href="/facts/Wikispecies/b2GhA7Le">Wikispecies</a> has information related to <i>Mimosa</i>. <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150422151624/http://mimosa-pudica.de/e_index.html">Mimosa-pudica.de</a></li> <li><a href="http://plantsinmotion.bio.indiana.edu/plantmotion/movements/nastic/mimosa/mimosa.html">Two small videos showing the plant folding its leaves</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Caesalpinoideae". Legume Data Portal. Retrieved 9 September 2023. <a href="https://www.legumedata.org/taxonomy/caesalpinioideae/" target="_blank">https://www.legumedata.org/taxonomy/caesalpinioideae/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Mimosa L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 6 September 2023. <a href="https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/30001613-2" target="_blank">https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/30001613-2</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Gledhill, D. (2008). The Names of Plants (4 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 356. ISBN 978-0-521-86645-3. <a href="978-0-521-86645-3" target="_blank">978-0-521-86645-3</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Austin, Daniel F. (2004). Florida ethnobotany Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona: with more than 500 species illustrated by Penelope N. Honychurch ... [et al.] Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. p. 58. ISBN 9780203491881. <a href="9780203491881" target="_blank">9780203491881</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Neuroscience; Bear, Connors, Paradiso <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Mimosa L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 31 August 2022. <a href="https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/30001613-2" target="_blank">https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/30001613-2</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>