The Sensitive plant is a creeping annual or perennial herb often grown for its interest value: the compound leaves fold inner and droop when touched, re-opening within minutes. Mimosa pudica is native to Brazil, but is now a pantropical weed. Other names given to this curious plant are Humble plant, Shame plant, Sleeping grass, Prayer Plant, Touch-me-not, Makahiya (Philippines, meaning "shy"), and Mori Vivi (West Indies). The Chinese name for this plant translates to "shyness grass". The species epithet, pudica, is Latin for "bashful" or "shrinking".
Because of its curious nature and easy reproduction. Its sinhala name is Nidikumba, where 'nidi' means 'sleep'. It is marketed to children under the name of the "Mr Tickle" plant, (based on the Mr Men characters by Roger Hargreaves).The stem is erect in young plants, but becomes creeping or trailing with age. The stem is slender, branching, and sparsely to densely prickly,
growing to a length of 1.5 m (5 ft). The leaves are compound, with one or two pinnae pairs, and 10-26 leaflets per pinna. The petioles are also prickly. Pedunculate (stalked) pale pink or purple flower heads arise from the leaf axils. The globose to ovoid heads are 8-10 mm in diameter
(excluding the stamens). On close examination, it is seen that the floret petals are red in their upper part and the filaments are pink to lavender. The fruit consists of clusters of 2-8 pods from 1-2 cm long each, these prickly on the margins. The pods break into 2-5 segments and contain
pale brown seeds some 2.5 mm long.
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