Mimosa (song)

''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 600 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. Species are native to the Americas, from North Dakota to northern Argentina, and to eastern Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar) as well as the Indian subcontinent and Indochina. The generic name is derived from the Greek word (''mimos''), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -''osa'', "resembling", suggesting its 'sensitive leaves' which seem to 'mimic conscious life'.

Two species in the genus are especially notable. One is '' Mimosa pudica'', commonly known as touch-me-not, which folds its leaves when touched or exposed to heat. It is native to southern Central and South America but is widely cultivated elsewhere for its curiosity value, both as a houseplant in temperate areas, and outdoors in the tropics. Outdoor cultivation has led to weedy invasion in some areas, notably Hawaii. The other is '' Mimosa tenuiflora'', which is best known for its use in shamanic ayahuasca brews due to the psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine found in its root bark.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the genus ''Mimosa'' has gone through several 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 are now classified in other genera. The most common examples of this are '' Albizia julibrissin'' (Persian silk tree) and '' Acacia dealbata'' (wattle).

Description

Members of this genus are among the few plants capable of rapid movement; examples outside of ''Mimosa'' include the telegraph plant, ''Aldrovanda'', some species of '' Drosera'' and the Venus flytrap. The leaves of the ''Mimosa pudica'' close quickly when touched. Some mimosas raise their leaves in the day and lower them at night, and experiments done by Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan on mimosas in 1729 provided the first evidence of biological clocks.Neuroscience; Bear, Connors, Paradiso

''Mimosa'' can be distinguished from the large related genera, ''Acacia'' and '' Albizia'', since its flowers have ten or fewer stamens. Botanically, what appears to be a single globular flower is actually a cluster of many individual ones. Mimosas contain some level of heptanoic acid.

Species

There are about 590 species including:
*''Mimosa aculeaticarpa'' Ortega

*''Mimosa andina'' Benth.

*''Mimosa arenosa'' (Willd.) Poir.

*''Mimosa asperata'' L.
*''Mimosa borealis'' Gray
*''Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia'' Benth.

*''Mimosa casta'' L.

*''Mimosa cupica'' Gray
*''Mimosa ceratonia'' L.
*''Mimosa diplotricha'' C.Wright ''ex'' Sauvalle
*''Mimosa disperma'' Barneby
*''Mimosa distachya'' Cav.
*''Mimosa dysocarpa'' Benth.
*''Mimosa emoryana'' Benth.

*''Mimosa grahamii'' Gray

*''Mimosa hamata'' Willd.

*''Mimosa hystricina'' (Small ex Britt. et Rose) B.L.Turner

*''Mimosa invisa'' Martius ''ex'' Colla
*''Mimosa latidens'' (Small) B.L. Turner
*''Mimosa laxiflora'' Benth.

*''Mimosa loxensis'' Barneby
*''Mimosa malacophylla'' Gray

*''Mimosa microphylla'' (DC.) B.L. Turner

*''Mimosa ophthalmocentra'' Mart. ex Benth. 1865
*''Mimosa pellita'' Kunth ex Willd.

*''Mimosa pigra'' L.

*''Mimosa polycarpa'' Kunth
*'' Mimosa pudica'' L.
*''Mimosa quadrivalvis'' L.
**''Mimosa quadrivalvis'' var. ''hystricina'' (Small) Barneby
**''Mimosa quadrivalvis'' var. ''quadrivalvis'' L.

*''Mimosa roemeriana'' Scheele

*''Mimosa rubicaulis'' Lam.

*''Mimosa rupertiana'' B.L. Turner

*''Mimosa scabrella'' Benth.
*''Mimosa schomburgkii'' Benth.

*''Mimosa somnians'' Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.
*''Mimosa strigillosa'' Torr. et Gray

*'' Mimosa tenuiflora'' (Willd.) Poir. (= ''Mimosa hostilis'')

*''Mimosa texana'' (Gray) Small

*''Mimosa townsendii'' Barneby
*''Mimosa turneri'' Barneby
*''Mimosa verrucosa'' Benth.

References

External links

Mimosa-pudica.de

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Fabaceae genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus