Mimosa pudica L.
Shy Plant / Sopan malu/Rumput malu/Puteri malu (Bru.)
Description
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Ecology
Propagation
Distribution
Precaution
Perennial small shrubby herb that can grow up to 1 m tall. The plant quickly folds its leaflets and droops downward at the petiole attachment when being touched. Leaves are pinnately compound, in alternate arrangement with few branchlets. Leaflets are tiny, sensitive, adaxially glabrous while abaxially slightly covered with bristles. Leaflet blades are oblong to subfalcate, acute at apex, rounded at base with ciliate margin. Stems are cylindrical, woody at the base and covered with curved prickles. Inflorescence a spherical head developing at leaf axils and solitary. Flowers are small, numerous and pinkish to bluish purple. Fruit a small, star-shaped pod or legume that contains few one-seeded segments. Seeds are light brown, ovoid and
The leaves are often cooked with coconut milk as a vegetable dish to maintain general health being. The plant possesses antitumour
It thrives in disturbed lands, along roadsides, along riverbanks and on rainforest edges. It grows well on well-drained sandy soil under full sunlight.
Seeds.
Native to South America.
None