''Mimosa somnians'', commonly known as dormideira, is a species of woody shrub in the genus ''

Mimosa ''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 590 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word (''mimos''), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -''osa'', "resembl ...

'' and the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

. It is native to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. It is a short, low-lying shrub with minuscule thorns lining its stem-like hairs. ''Mimosa somnians'' is notable for exhibiting

rapid plant movement Rapid plant movement encompasses plant movements, movement in plant structures occurring over a very short period, usually under one second. For example, the Venus flytrap closes its trap in about 100 milliseconds. The traps of Utricularia are muc ...

. Its leaves are sensitive to tactile stimulus, folding quickly when touched, similar to ''

Mimosa pudica ''Mimosa pudica'' (from la, pudica "shy, bashful or shrinking"; also called sensitive plant, sleepy plant, action plant, touch-me-not, shameplant) is a creeping annual or perennial flowering plant of the pea/legume family Fabaceae. It is often g ...

''. It can be differentiated from ''Mimosa pudica'' in that its leaves are bipinnate, there are more than four subbranchlets and these originate from more than one point on the branch. ''Mimosa somnians'' leaflets are 4–5 mm long. The flowers form pink balls. It propagates by seeds.

Forms, subspecies and varieties

*''Mimosa somnians f. viscida'' *''Mimosa somnians'' subsp. ''longipes '' *''Mimosa somnians'' subsp. ''viscida'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''aquatica'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''deminuta'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''diminuta'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''glandulosa'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''lasiocarpa'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''leptocaulis'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''longipes'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''lupulina'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''possensis'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''somnians'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''velascoensis'' *''Mimosa somnians'' var. ''viscida''

Uses

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

, it is used to calm down irritable children via washing.

Chemical constituents

''Mimosa somnians'' contains (whole plant) about 0.029%

tryptamine Tryptamine is an indolamine metabolite of the essential amino acid, tryptophan. The chemical structure is defined by an indole ─ a fused benzene and pyrrole ring, and a 2-aminoethyl group at the second carbon (third aromatic atom, with the f ...

and about 0.029% methyltryptamine.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13933651 Medicinal plants of South America somnians Taxa named by Aimé Bonpland Taxa named by Alexander von Humboldt