Common names:
Sensitive plant, Humble plant, Mori vivi (West Indies) and Shame Plant (Africa, Vietnam).
Scientific name: Mimosa pudica
Explanation of scientific name:
Mimosa - a mimic, alluding to the fact that the leaves are sensitive (Greek).
Mimosa pudica is remarkable because of its:
 | Nyctinastic movements - in the evening the leaflets fold together and the whole leaf droops downward until sunrise. |
| Seismonastic movements - touching the leaves, or shaking the plant, or slight warming of the leaves, or chemical and electrical stimuli, or subjecting the plant to a lack of water, will cause the leaflets to fold together and the whole leaf to droop downwards temporarily. Sensitive Plants, fully open and undisturbed, growing in one of Union County College's greenhouses. |
The same two plants, closed in response to being touched.
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