If you have never grown Mimosa Pudica,you should really try.
It is a delicate,straggly plant with tiny lavender flowers,and when grown has the amazing property of 'dying' dramatically when touched.

Its name comes from the Latin pudica (shy,bashful or shrinking).
In other places it has acquired other descriptive names: in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean Islands 'morivivi'( 'I died, I lived'),in Tonga 'mateloi' (false death).
Its Burmese name is Hti Ka Yoan, which means 'crumbles when touched'.

It is native to South America and Central America.


Mimosa Pudica is grown as ground cover in Kew Gardens, in one of the glasshouses.
Its reaction to touch is quite startling; the compound leaves immediately fold and drop,almost as if unhooked from the main stem.
It can take some minutes for the plant to recover.

You Tube has some excellent video coverage of the process; if you look at the photograph of the seed packet, the 'dying' action is demonstrated there by a rubber-tipped pencil touching the leaves.


In his eighties my father worked in a small radio shop in the centre of Brighton; he enjoyed the conversation and being part of the working world.

He kept a small mimosa pudica plant in a pot at the front of the counter, hoping that innocent customers would brush against it or bang on the counter.

When the inevitable happened, and the plant collapsed in a heap, he would say,"Look what you've done! You've killed my plant!"

I'm afraid he much enjoyed the abject apologies he would receive....


Seeds are easily available;do try to grow your own mimosa pudica.

It will give you some interesting moments;more like a pet than a plant!



I'm afraid I quite liked my picture!
Sorry!