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Re: What Is A Mimosa?

On Fri, 29 May 1998, Chroni Apolloni wrote:

> I was growing a Telegraph Plant, Desmodium gyrans, some years back. I
> had understood that it's movement was more like quaking aspen, abrupt,
> repetitive motion, from the literature I had read.

When I've grown it, the stipules revolve fairly quickly, with a period
of about a minute, when temps are over about 75oF.  I also seem to
remember sleep movements, but I'm not sure about it.  I've got
some seedlings coming up, so I'll let you know.  There was certainly
no movement that I'd describe as like quaking aspen (shimmering 
leaves due to flat petioles).

As far as distinguishing between D. gyrans and Mimosa pudica,
both leaves and flowers are quite distinct.  Here's a couple
of leads to photos of Mimosa pudica in flower

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/mimos.htm

and Desmodium canadense, morphologically similar to D. gyrans.

gopher://wiscinfo.wisc.edu:2070/I9/.image/.bot/.401/Magnoliophyta/Magnoliopsida/Rosidae/Fabaceae/Desmodium/D_canadense_KS_

Kay Lancaster    kay@fern.com
just west of Portland, OR; USDA zone 8 (polarfleece)
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