Mimosa strigillosa
Family: Fabaceae
Description: Perennial with prostrate stems to 1 m or longer, forming mats. Leaves alternate, bipinnate with leaflets 4-7 mm long, up to 15 pair per pinna. Sensitive to touch. Heads 1.5-2 cm wide-pink or lavender-rose (occasionally white). Flowers in globose clusters.
Field Identification: Like other species of Mimosa, it has tiny, sensitive compound leaves that can fold in a matter of seconds after being disturbed. Tiny flowers occur in, pink, puffy, ball-like clusters. The fruit is a flattened pod turning from green to brown as it matures.
Plant Trivia:
Occurrence: Frequent on various soils, mostly in swales and depressions and along stream or lake banks.
Bloom Period: April-Nov
Plant Use: Larval host: Little Sulphur Butterfly (Eurema lisa). Xeriscape ground cover to replace turf grass.
Dichotomous Key to the Genus Mimosa: There are 6 species of Mimosa (Sensitive-Briar) in our region. A dichotomous key for them may be found in Plants of the Texas Coastal Bend by Roy L. Lehman, Ruth, O’Brien & Tammy White.
