Mimosa pudica seed

LATIN NAME: Mimosa pudica

COMMON NAME: Sensitive Plant

The sensitive plant is the shy fern of the warm window, and the small, pink puffballs open above the feathery leaves. The low, spreading, perennial or annual herb carries the fern-like, compound leaves of the many tiny leaflets that fold up at the touch and the small, pink-mauve, pom-pom-like flower heads through the warm season, one of the fine, curious sights of the warm room, to be followed by the small, bristly pods. The plant is a fine, curious presence of the study collection, and it is a plant of the open, sunny, moist, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The sensitive plant is a curious subject of the plant science, and the folding leaves keep showing up in the work on the touch-sensitive plants. The way the tiny leaflets fold up at the touch and reopen in the quiet, a fine example of the rapid movement of the plant world, has been studied closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the seismonastic plants, the touch-sensitive species and the members of the bean family. The fern-like leaves and the low habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the sensitive plant is a regular subject of the work on the shy leaves of the warm world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The sensitive plant is a fine, curious plant of the warm room and the study collection. The fern-like, compound leaves of the many tiny leaflets fold up at the touch and reopen in the quiet, one of the fine, curious sights of the plant world, drawing the wonder of the young and the old, and the small, pink-mauve, pom-pom-like flower heads open through the warm season. The plant is one of the fine choices for the study collection, the warm room and the children’s garden, and it has been written up in the botanical and the educational papers for the folding leaves and the curious ways. It is a fine, curious plant of the open, sunny, moist, well-drained garden.

Keep the young plants in the warm, bright spot, and the leaves will fold at the touch.

To grow the sensitive plant from seed, sow the small, brown seeds over the surface of a tray of fine, gritty soil, with a light press, keep the tray in a warm, bright spot and water gently, then set the young plants out after the last frosts. The seedlings come through within a couple of weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun, the warmth and the moist, well-drained ground, the shy leaves will fold at the touch through the warm season.

So called Sensitive Plant because the leaflets fold up in a most spectacular manner when is touched or blown by the wind. Run your hand over the plant and the leaves will fold up and return to normal condition in a few minutes.