5. 
MIMOSA sensitiva. 
The sensitwe plant. 
POLYGAMIA MONGSCIdA. 
MIMOSA. Hermaph. Cal. 5-dentatus. Cor. 0, s. 5-dentata, 
Stam. 8. Pist. 1. Lomentum in articulos monospermos secedens. 
Mase. Cal. 5-dentatus. Cor. 0, s. 5-dentata. “Stam. 8. Wiild. sp. pl. 
4. 1028. 
Arbores v. frutices suffruticesve, inermes aut ad basin petiolorum 
passimee aculeati ; folia abrupte pinnata ; flores capitati v. spicati, avil- 
lares terminalesve, regulares, quidam abortu masculi v. faminei, Stam. 
distincta. Folia omnium vesperé contracta mane expanduntur, quarun- 
dam sensibilia nimts ad tactum comprimuntur & nutant. Jussieu. gen. 
346. 
M. sensitiva, caule petiolisque aculeatis, foliis conjugato-pinnatis, folio- 
lis subdimidiato-ovatis acutis subtis pilosis, intimis minimis. Willd. 
sp. pl. 4. 1030. 
Mimosa sensitiva. Lin. sp. pl. 2. 1501. Mill. dict. ed. 8. n. 7. 
Trew. ehret. 54.t.95. Hort. Kew. 3. 439. ed. 2. 5. 455. 
HEschynomene spinosa prima s. brasiliana latifolia, siliquis radiatis. Breyn. 
cent. 1. 31. t. 16. 
Caulis lignosus, debilis, gracilis, striatus, axillariter ramosus, villosus, 
aculeis recurvis conspersus. Folia alterna, distantia, conjugato-pinnata pin- 
nis byjugis: foliola inequilatera, oblonga latere intimo ‘rectiore, subtis ap- - 
presso-villosa, venosa, interius utriusque paris conforme sed maxime diminu- 
tum ; petioli communes surrectt pubescentes semiteretes a supino striatt, 
_ basi articulati stipula parva acuminatéd ad utrumque latus: partiales triplo 
breviores, stipuld subulat porrecta antica in articulo baseos alterdque posticd 
pone furcam. Capitula purpureo-albicantia, pedunculata, in axillis foliorum 
superiorum sepits gemina, petiolo breviora ; Sos paniculato-producta, 
Cal. exiguus, quadrangulatus, 4-fidus, in pedicello brevissimo: quos cordam 
ge omnes hermaphroditi, Cor. 0. Stam. 4, dongé exserta. Stylus 
lateralis, 
a ee 
The appellation of “ the sensitive plant” having long 
since been very generally transferred in our gardens from 
the present species to the Mimosa pudica or “humble 
plant,” a small annual that occurs in almost every collec- 
tion, where tender annuals are cultivated; this article may 
serve to recall to our readers the original owner of that 
name; a plant rarely seen in this country. ie: 
The extraordinary effect of the perceptibility of the pre- 
sent and other Mrmosa, has given rise to much speculation 
among physiologists, which however appears to have af- 
H 2 
