Mimosa 



LEGUMINOSiE 



133 



153 & Hist. it. 58, t. 182, /. 7. M. minima &c. Browne Hist. 

 Jam. 254. A specimen from Browne, named by Linnaeus, is in 

 Herb. Linn. Specimen from Sloane, the type, is in Herb. Mus. 

 Brit. 



Magotty and Moneague savannas, Sloane Herb. vi. 49! Browne'. 

 Wright [ Sfc. Ann ; between Port Morant and Morant Bay; Broughtonl 

 Swartz 1 East Prospect, St. Thomas in the East, Macfadyen ; Moneague, 

 Prior 1 Moneague, Fawcett I — Cuba. 



Leaf extremely sensitive to touch. Pinnae, 1 pair, 1-2 cm. 1. ; leaflets 

 in 4 pairs, oblong, blunt, 3-5 mm. 1. ; petiole 1-2 cm. 1. Flower-heads 

 ovate or globular, few-flowered ; peduncles solitary, axillary, about as long 

 as the petiole. Stamens as many as the petals, and twice as long. Pod 

 ovoid, bristly in the centre of the valves, 1-jointed, 5-6 mm. 1. 



" This small plant grows in patches, densely covering the ground for 

 several feet in extent. It is perhaps the most sensitive of its kind, its 

 leaves affected even by the breeze, and instantly collapsing on being 

 touched, so that you may write your name on a bed of it, by means of a 

 stick drawn lightly over the surface, and the letters will remain legible for 

 several minutes " (Macfadyen). 



2. M. pudica L. Sp. PI. 518 (1753) (excl. syn. Breyn., Gomm.) ; 

 a prickly herb, stems woody at the base, long, prostrate, some- 





Fig. 42. — Mimosa pudica L. 



Leaves expanded and closed. Flowers in bud and open. 

 Pods showing how the borders break away. 



