Mimosa (Reconstitution)
Description
Mimosa is a genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word µ?µ?? (mimos), meaning "mimic."Two species in the genus are especially notable. One is Mimosa pudica, because of the way it folds its leaves when touched or exposed to heat. It is native to southern Central and South America but is widely cultivated elsewhere for its curiosity value, both as a houseplant in temperate areas, and outdoors in the tropics.
Outdoor cultivation has led to weedy invasion in some areas, notably Hawaii. The other is Mimosa tenuiflora, which is best known for its use in shamanic ayahuasca brews due to the psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine found in its root bark.The taxonomy of the genus Mimosa has had a tortuous history, having gone through periods of splitting and lumping, ultimately accumulating over 3,000 names, many of which have either been synonymized under other species or transferred to other genera. In part due to these changing circumscriptions, the name "Mimosa" has also been applied to several other related species with similar pinnate or bipinnate leaves, but are now classified in other genera, most commonly to Albizia julibrissin (silk tree) and Acacia dealbata (wattle).
Members of this genus are among the few plants capable of rapid movement; examples outside of Mimosa include the telegraph plant, and the venus flytrap. The leaves of the plant close quickly when touched. Some mimosas raise their leaves in day and lower them at night, and experiments done by Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan on mimosas in 1729 provided the first evidence of biological clocks.Mimosa can be distinguished from the large related genera, Acacia and Albizia, since its flowers have 10 or fewer stamens. Note that, botanically, what appears to be a single globular flower is actually a cluster of many individual ones. Mimosa contains some level of heptanoic acid.
Mimosa pudica L. (Mimosaceae) also referred to as touch me not, live and die, shame plant and humble plant is a prostrate or semi-erect subshrub of tropical America and Australia, also found in India heavily armed with recurved thorns and having sensitive soft grey green leaflets that fold and droop at night or when touched and cooled.These unique bending movements have earned it a status of ‘curiosity plant’. It appears to be a promising herbal candidate to undergo further exploration as evident from its pharmacological profile.
It majorly possesses antibacterial, antivenom, antifertility, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, aphrodisiac, and various other pharmacological activities. The herb has been used traditionally for ages, in the treatment of urogenital disorders, piles, dysentery, sinus, and also applied on wounds. This work is an attempt to explore and compile the different pharmacognostic aspects of the action plant M. pudica reported till date.
Plant leaf movements can be mediated by specialized motor organs, the pulvini or can be epinastic (i.e. based on different growth velocities of the adaxial and abaxial halves of the leaf).Both processes are associated with diurnally regulated increase in the rates of membrane water transport, which in many cases, has been shown to be facilitated by aquaporins. Rhythmic leaf movements are known from many plant species but more recently a promising model plant to study pulvinus-mediated leaf movements is M. pudica. The contribution of both plasma membrane and tonoplast localized aquaporins to the seismonastic leaf movements in M. pudica has been analyzed.Mimosa is one of the most beautiful floral absolutes that I had the pleasure to work with , the price to performance ratio is exceptional. It can add depth and beauty to almost any accord , though a slight overdose will kill the accord.