Mimosa
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2008-06-04T10:07:43Z
TXiKiBoT
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robot Adding: [[ka:მიმოზა]]
{{otheruses}}
{{Taxobox
| name = Sensitive Plant
| image = Mimosa pudica 2.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Mimosa pudica'' foliage and flower-head
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fabales]]
| familia = [[Fabaceae]]
| subfamilia = [[Mimosoideae]]
| tribus = [[Mimoseae]]
| genus = '''''Mimosa'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
About 400 species, see text.
}}
'''''Mimosa''''' is a [[genus]] of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family [[Fabaceae]]. The most curious plant in the genus is ''[[Mimosa pudica]]'' because of the way it folds its leaves when touched or exposed to heat; many others also fold their leaves in the evening. It is native to southern [[Mexico]], [[Uruguay]] and [[Central America]] but is widely cultivated elsewhere for its curiosity value, both as an indoor plant in temperate areas, and outdoors in the tropics. Outdoor cultivation has led to [[weed]]y [[invasive species|invasion]] in some areas, notably [[Hawaii]].
Members of this genus are among the few plants capable of [[rapid plant movement|rapid movement]]; examples outside of ''Mimosa'' include the [[Telegraph plant]], and the [[Venus Flytrap]].
The genus ''Mimosa'' has had a tortuous history, having gone through periods of splitting and lumping, ultimately accumulating over 3,000 names, many of which have either been synonymized under other species or transferred to other genera. In part due to these changing circumscriptions, the name "Mimosa" has also been applied to several other related species with similar pinnate or bipinnate leaves but now classified in other genera, most commonly to ''[[Albizia julibrissin]]'' (Silk Tree) and [[Acacia|''Acacia dealbata'']] (Silver Wattle).
In [[Russia]], [[Italy]] and other countries it is customary to present women with yellow mimosas (among other flowers) on [[International Women's Day]] ([[March 8]]). This flower is from ''[[Acacia dealbata]]'' (Silver Wattle), which is not a true ''Mimosa''.
''La Forêt de Mimosas'' is a song performed in French by [[Kirsty MacColl]] about a woman who is murdered by her lover in a Mimosa forest.
The plant can be found in many parts of [[Bengal]], where it is known as ''lajjabati'' (literally a shy female).
The plant can be found in chapter 4 of Nabokov's Lolita: "I have reserved for the conclusion of my 'Annabel' phase the account of our unsuccessful first tryst. One night, she managed to deceive the vicious vigilance of her family. In a nervous and slender-leaved mimosa grove at the back of their villa we found a perch on the ruins of a low stone wall."
And at end of the chapter:
"But that mimosa grove--the haze of stars, the tingle, the flame, the honey-dew, and the ache remained with me, and that little girl with her seaside limbs and ardent tongue haunted me
ever since--until at last, twenty-four years later, I broke her spell by incarnating her in another."
==Species==
There are about 400 species including:
* ''[[Mimosa aculeaticarpa]]'' Ortega
* ''[[Mimosa arenosa]]'' (Willd.) Poir.
* ''[[Mimosa asperata]]'' L.
* ''[[Mimosa borealis]]'' Gray
* ''[[Mimosa casta]]'' L.
* ''[[Mimosa ceratonia]]'' L.
* ''[[Mimosa diplotricha]]'' C.Wright ex Sauvalle
* ''[[Mimosa dysocarpa]]'' Benth.
** ''[[Mimosa dysocarpa dysocarpa|Mimosa dysocarpa var. dysocarpa]]'' Benth.
* ''[[Mimosa emoryana]]'' Benth.
* ''[[Mimosa grahamii]]'' Gray
** ''[[Mimosa grahamii grahamii|Mimosa grahamii var. grahamii]]'' Gray
* ''[[Mimosa hystricina]]'' (Small ex Britt. et Rose) B.L.Turner
* ''[[Mimosa latidens]]'' (Small) B.L. Turner
* ''[[Mimosa laxiflora]]'' Benth.
* ''[[Mimosa malacophylla]]'' Gray
* ''[[Mimosa microphylla]]'' Dry.
* ''[[Mimosa nuttallii]]'' (DC.) B.L. Turner
* ''[[Mimosa pellita]]'' Kunth ex Willd.
* ''[[Mimosa pigra]]'' L.
** ''[[Mimosa pigra pigra|Mimosa pigra var. pigra]]'' L.
* ''[[Mimosa pudica]]'' L. - La [[sensitive]]
* ''[[Mimosa quadrivalvis]]'' L.
** ''[[Mimosa quadrivalvis hystricina|Mimosa quadrivalvis var. hystricina]]'' (Small) Barneby
* ''[[Mimosa roemeriana]]'' Scheele
* ''[[Mimosa rupertiana]]'' B.L. Turner
* ''[[Mimosa scabrella]]'' Benth.
* ''[[Mimosa schomburgkii]]'' Benth.
* ''[[Mimosa somnians]]''
* ''[[Mimosa strigillosa]]'' Torr. et Gray
* ''[[Mimosa tenuiflora]]'' (Willd.) Poir. (= ''Mimosa hostilis'')
* ''[[Mimosa texana]]'' (Gray) Small
* ''[[Mimosa turneri]]'' Barneby
* ''[[Mimosa verrucosa]]''
==References==
*Barneby, R.C. 1992. Sensitivae Censitae: A description of the genus ''Mimosa'' Linnaeus (Mimosaceae) in the New World. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden, vol. 65.
== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* http://www.mimosa-pudica.de/e_index.html
* [http://plantsinmotion.bio.indiana.edu/plantmotion/movements/nastic/mimosa/mimosa.html Two small videos showing the plant folding its leaves]
[[Category:Mimosoideae]]
[[Category:Invasive plant species]]
{{fabaceae-stub}}
[[bn:লজ্জাবতী]]
[[bg:Мимоза]]
[[de:Mimosen]]
[[es:Mimosa (género)]]
[[fr:Mimosa]]
[[hr:Mimoza]]
[[it:Mimosa (Fabaceae)]]
[[ka:მიმოზა]]
[[lt:Mimoza]]
[[nah:Huixachin]]
[[pl:Mimoza]]
[[pt:Mimosa (género)]]
[[ru:Мимоза]]
[[sv:Sensitivor]]
[[vi:Chi Trinh nữ]]