Mimosa pudica
Leaves fold inward
Mimosa pudica is a tropical plant whose leaves fold inward and droop when touched, earning it names like sensitive plant and touch-me-not.
The reaction is rapid and dramatic—a finger brushed across a stem triggers a cascade of collapsing leaflets.
Native to Central and South America, it grows as a weed in warm climates and as a curiosity houseplant elsewhere.
- sensitive plantPlant reacting to touch
- touch-me-notPlant with bursting seedpods
- foldingBending something over itself
- leavesTree's photosynthetic organs
- reactionResponse to stimulus
stimulus · tropism · curl · shrink · recoil · pink · puffball · thorns · tropical · weed · sleep · movement · turgor · defensiveness · ticklish · delicate · bashful · withdrawing
- Touch-sensitive plantssensitive plant, touch-me-not, Venus flytrap
- succulentsaloe, cactus, cacti, agave, sedum
- legume treesacacia, mesquite, locust tree, black locust, honey locust
Mimosa pudicaoak tree
Large deciduous hardwood
redwood · stone pine · bristlecone pine · baobab · petrified wood
Mimosa pudicaVenus flytrap
Plant that eats insects
stinging nettle · corpse flower · strangler fig · honey locust · devil's claw
mimosa, impudent, impudence, pudenda, repudiate, repudiation