Mimosa pudica L. 1753, commonly called Sensitive Plant, Shame Weed, Humble Plant, Sleeping Grass, Modest Princess or The Touch me not, is a creeping annual or perennial, tropical herb, native to Central- and South America.

Nowadays the Sensitive Plant is distributed in many tropical- and subtropical regions in the world and is considered as an invasive species in Tanzania (Africa), South Asia and South East Asia and many Pacific Islands. Mimosa pudica is some kind of a curious plant, as the leaves are rapidly closing whilst touched, blown at, shaked or warmed (seismonastic movement) and are also closing to absence of light (nyctinastic movement). Especially for young children, Mimosa pudica is a real fun plant. The Sensitive Plant (Mimosa pudica) requires a warm to hot tropical climate, a suuny - partial shaddy location and a rich, moist soil. The plant doesn`t tolerate temperatures below 18° C and isn`t hardy. Flowers get a size of about 2 cm in diameter. Flowering period: Summer - Autumn. The small, tropical plant is suitable to be cultivated indoors, but needs a lot of sun. Branches can reach lengths up to about 1,50 meters.
Mimosa pudica is propagated by seeds.

Flower Photography © Orchids Flowers.com
Image: Sensitive Plant (Mimosa pudica)

This fantastic video shows the rapid plant movement of the sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica)
and in time lapse the recovering process.