Morivivir, Sensitive Plant
Mimosa pudica

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

Mimosa pudica is an evergreen Annual/Perennial growing to 0.5 m (1ft 8in) by 0.5 m (1ft 8in) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. It can fix Nitrogen. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 0.5

Where it is found

Croplands, orchards, pastures, mowed areas, roadsides, areas disturbed by construction, moist waste ground, open plantations, and weedy thickets at elevations from sea level to 1,300 metres. It may grow as a single plant or in tangled thickets.

Probably arose in the Neotropics, but now Pantropical.

Conservation Status: Status: Least Concern

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Asia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Central America, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Guianas, Guyana, Haiti, Indochina, Jamaica, Laos, Lesser Antilles, Madagascar, Maldives, Mexico, Myanmar, North America, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, South America, Suriname, Taiwan, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies*

How it is used

Food

Rating: 2

The delicately fragrant flowers can be crystallized, or used in the preparation of distilled flower water. An oil similar to soybean oil (Glycine max) is obtained from the seed.

Oil: Oil

Drink: not including plant saps, tea or coffee substitutes.

Medicine

Rating: 2

According to Ayurveda, the root is bitter, acrid, cooling, vulnerary, alexipharmic. It is used in treatment of biliousness, leprosy, dysentery, vaginal and uterine complaints, inflammations, burning sensation, fatigue, asthma, leucoderma, blood diseases etc. According to the Unani system of medicine, the root is resolvent, alternative, useful in diseases arising from blood impurities and bile, bilious fevers, piles, jaundice, leprosy etc. The root is used to control alcoholism. The leaves are bitter, mildly sudorific, tonic. A leaf tincture is given by teetotallers to drunkards to remedy drunkenness. The seed is emetic. The plant contains the alkaloid 'mimosine'. Extracts of the plant have been shown in scientific trials to be a moderate diuretic; to depress duodenal contractions in a similar manner to atropine sulphone; to promote regeneration of the nerves; and reduce menorrhagia. The roots contain tannin, ash, calcium oxalate crystals and mimosin. Root extracts are reported to be a strong emetic.

Acrid: Causes heat and irritation when applied to the skin.

Alterative: Causes a gradual beneficial change in the body, usually through improved nutrition and elimination, without having any marked specific action.

Antiasthmatic: Treats asthma.

Antibilious: Corrects the secretions of bile.

Antidiarrhoeal: Provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Also see Astringent.

Antidote: Counters poisoning.

Antiinflammatory: Reduces inflammation of joints, injuries etc.

Bitter: Increases the appetite and stimulates digestion by acting on the mucous membranes of the mouth. Also increases the flow of bile, stimulates repair of the gut wall lining and regulates the secretion of insulin and glucogen.

Blood purifier: Purifies the blood.

Diaphoretic: Induces perspiration.

Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.

Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.

Emetic: Induces vomiting.

Febrifuge: Reduces fevers.

Leprosy: Used to treat leprosy - a chronic bacterial infection of the skin and superficial nerves (in the skin) caused by Mycobacterium leprae.

Resolvent: Breaks down tumors. This might be placed under antitumor.

Tonic: Improves general health. Slower acting than a stimulant, it brings steady improvement.

Vulnerary: Promotes the healing of wounds.

Other

Rating: 3

Agroforestry Uses: The plant forms a dense ground cover and has been used to provide ground cover in coconut plantations. It has been introduced to subtropical, humid areas of the Transcaucasus where it is cultivated for erosion control, ground cover and green manure. The plant has been identified as having potential for phytoremediation of arsenic polluted areas in Thailand.

Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.

Green manure: Fast-growing plants that can be used to increase the fertility of the soil.

Oil: Vegetable oils have many uses, as lubricants, lighting, soap and paint making, waterproofing etc. This does not include the edible oils unless they are also mentioned as having other uses.

Soil reclamation: Plants that can be grown in such circumstances an the spoil tips of mines in order to restore fertility.

Soil stabilization: Plants that can be grown in places such as sand dunes in order to prevent erosion by wind, water or other agents.

Straw: For drinking with.

Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.

Agroforestry Services: Understory legume: Legume vegetation, especially the trees and shrubs growing between the forest canopy and the forest floor.

Fodder: Pasture: Enclosed tracts of farmland mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants).

Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Management: Hay: Cut to the ground and harvested annually. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.

Agroforestry Services: Understory legume: Legume vegetation, especially the trees and shrubs growing between the forest canopy and the forest floor.

Fodder: Pasture: Enclosed tracts of farmland mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants).

Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Management: Hay: Cut to the ground and harvested annually. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Regional Crop: These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally, Examples in this broad category include perennial cottons and many nuts and staple fruits.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

Ground Cover: Ground Cover

Nitrogen Fixer: Plants that fix nitrogen in the soil

How it is grown

A plant of the tropics, but also naturalized in the subtropics, where it is found at elevations up to 1,300 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 28°c, but can tolerate 10 - 32°c. It is intolerant of frost. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 900 - 3,000mm. Prefers a sunny position, but can succeed in quite dense shade. Plants are shade intolerant. Succeeds in most soils, including those that are shallow or poor in nutrients. The plant is well adapted to humid areas with high winds. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7, tolerating 5 - 7.5. The plant has become naturalized throughout the Tropics and much of the subtropics. It has become a pest in forest plantations, cropland, orchards and pasture. It is particularly likely to become a noxious weed when growing in dryland field crops, in rainfed wetland rice and in plantation crops. Plants can flower all year round. Plants are a fire hazard when dry. Although they can be perennial, the plants can also complete their life-cycle within 90 days. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.

Propagating it: Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing to speed up germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing

Best place to grow:

Habit: Annual/Perennial

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Fast

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

When the prickles on the stem and the fruits become too hard, they can cause intestinal inflammation in grazing animals. The roots are toxic in large doses.

It has become a pest in forest plantations, cropland, orchards and pasture. It is particularly likely to become a noxious weed when growing in dryland field crops, in rainfed wetland rice and in plantation crops

Its other names

Local names

Chui mui, Kaya, Ladhugas, Lajwanti, Macco, Nam-ya-haiawn, Tikayon, Trinhnu

Synonyms

Mimosa hispidula Kunth Mimosa tetrandra Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. Mimosa unijuga Duchass. & Walp.