Family: Fabaceae
Scientific name: Mimosa pudica
Common name: Sensitive plant
Native of: South and Central America
Greenhouse location: Room C
Species name
Mimosa pudica earned its nickname "sensitive plant" from its reaction to stimulation. Its leaflets quickly turn inward when touched or shaken. The reason is up for debate. One explanation is that it is a form of predatory defense, exposing the thorn-covered stems. As with other Mimosa species, the sensitive plant's leaves fold up at night as well.
Folding up its leaves costs the plant a great deal of energy, so please do NOT touch the Mimosa pudica more than once.
Botanists refer to the sensitive plant's reaction to stimulation as "rapid plant movement"—movement of plant structures that happens quickly (usually under one second) and is normally reversible … as opposed to "growth movement" that leads to permanent changes in the plant over a longer period of time.
Mimosa pudica has become a pantropical weed around the world, including in the southern United States.