Mimosa somnians

Mimosa somnians
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Mimosoideae
Genus: Mimosa
Species: M. somnians
Binomial name
Mimosa somnians
Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.[1]
Synonyms
  • Mimosa acutiflora Benth.[2]
  • Mimosa palpitans Willd.[2]
  • Mimosa podocarpa Benth.[2]
  • Mimosa quadrijuga Benth.[2]
  • Mimosa somnians Willd. var. podocarpa[2] (Benth.)Niederl.
  • Mimosa somnians Willd. var. quadrijuga[2] Niederl.
  • Mimosa somniculosa Kunth[2]

Mimosa somnians ("Dormideira") is a tree in the Fabaceae family. It is native to the Caribbean, Central America and South America.[2] It is a short, low lying shrub with minuscule thorns lining its stems like hairs.[3] Its leaves are sensitive, meaning that, when touched, they close quickly, similarly to Mimosa pudica.[4] It can be differentiated from Mimosa pudica in that its leaves are bipinnate, there are more than four subbranchlets and these originate from more than one point on the branch.[4]

Mimosa sominans's leaflets are 45 mm long.[3] The flowers form pink balls.[3] It propagates by seeds.[4]

Forms, subspecies and varieties[5]

Uses

In Guyana, it is used to calm down irritable children via washing.[6]

Mimosa somnians contains (whole plant) about 0.029% tryptamine and about 0.029% methyltryptamine.[7] It is also said to contain dimethyltryptamine.

References

  1. "Mimosa somnians information from NPGS/GRIN". www.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "Mimosa somnians - ILDIS LegumeWeb". www.ildis.org. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Full text of "Flora of Yucatan"". www.archive.org. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Translated version of http://laflor.ifas.ufl.edu/Weeds%20of%20CR/cd/MALEZAS/leguminosas/Mimosa%20somnians.html". translate.google.com. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  5. "Mimosa (Genus)". zipcodezoo.com. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
  6. Medicinal Plants of the Guianas (Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana), Retrieved 5-07-08
  7. "Journal of Natural Products: Vol.42, Issue 2 (ACS Publications)". pubs3.acs.org. Retrieved 2008-05-07.

External links