Mimosa pigra (giant sensitive plant)
Identity
- Preferred Scientific Name
- Mimosa pigra L., typ. cons.
- Preferred Common Name
- giant sensitive plant
- Other Scientific Names
- Mimosa asperata (Willd.) Humb. et Bonpl.
- Mimosa asperata L. (1759)
- Mimosa hispida Willd.
- Mimosa pallida Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.
- Mimosa pellita Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.
- Mimosa pigra var. pigra (A.Gray ex Torr.); B.L.Turner
- Mimosa polyacantha Willd.
- International Common Names
- Englishbashful bushbashful plantblack mimosacatclaw mimosagiant mimosamimosasensitive mimosathorny sensitive plant
- Spanishadormideraaqüistearoma espinosacarpincheradormilonaespina de vacaespinopigrareinasensitiva mimosauña de gatovergonzosazarazzarzazarzonzorzon
- Frenchamourette riviéreamourette violetbanglin
- Local Common Names
- Argentinayuquerí
- Brazilcalumbi-d’aguacalumbi-da-lagoajiquiritijuquirijuquiri grandemalícia-de-boiunha-de-gato
- Cubaaroma espinosareinasensitiva mimosaweyler
- Madagascarroitiarouirouitiberoy
- Mexicodormilonasensitiva
- Mozambiquenamanhalo
- Namibiamurombenamanhalonambaravambara-vambara
- Puerto Ricodormilonamoriviví gigante
- South Africaraak-my-nie
- Tanzaniambengu
- USAshamebush
- EPPO code
- MIMPI (Mimosa pigra)
Pictures
Habit
A spreading, multi-stemmed, thorny shrub usually up to 2 m tall, but occasionally up to 6 m.
©Colin Wilson
Inflorescence
Bee-pollinated inflorescences, containing up to 100 flowers, are spherical, pink and last 1 day.
©Colin Wilson
Seed pods
Pods hairy, up to 15 cm long, containing between 8 and 24 seeds.
©Colin Wilson
Seed pods
Fruits ripen in ca 3 months and, when mature, fragment into indehiscent one-seeded segments.
©Colin Wilson
Spines
Recurved spines are located on the undersides of the petioles, petiolets and stems.
©Colin Wilson
Leaves
M. pigra leaves before physical stimulation.
©Colin Wilson
Leaves
M. pigra leaves after physical stimulation.
©Colin Wilson
Adventitious roots
M. pigra is adapted to seasonally flooded habitats, where fibrous adventitious roots are formed around the base of the multiple stems.
©Colin Wilson
Infestation
Infestation, Darwin: in northern Australia, the spread of M. pigra into pasture land reduces herbaceous vegetation and greatly decreases the grazing capacity of the land.
©Bill Parsons
Mimosa pigra
USDA APHIS PPQ, USDA APHIS, bugwood.org
Refer to Bugwood: http://www.bugwood.org/ImageUsage.html
Distribution
Host Plants and Other Plants Affected
| Host | Host status | References |
|---|---|---|
| Oryza sativa (rice) | Main | |
| Polyphagous (polyphagous) | Main |
Prevention and Control
Introduction
A guide to the management of M. pigra is provided by Harley (1992); this guide covers all aspects of management, especially the control options.
Cultural Control
In Malaysia, recommended control include involves slashing and brushing the stem with herbicide to be repeated every 6 months to prevent regeneration (Anwar, 2001).
In Australia, viable seeds have been found a decade after stand removal. The dormant seed bank should be be taken into consideration when devising management strategies including type of control, stocking rates and duration of follow-up control of seedlings (Lukitsch and Elliott, 2012).
Mechanical Control
In Malaysia, recommended control includes digging and uprooting plants to remove stands (Anwar, 2001). Schatz (2001) investigated the impact of cutting height on mortality. Cutting plants off ca. 10 cm below ground level killed all plants whereas cutting off at ground level or 15 cm above ground level resulted in resprouting in most plants. Thus slashing and chaining is not effective in controlling the weed whereas blade ploughing, a method which cuts the plant below ground level, can be an efficient physical control method.
A guide to the management of M. pigra is provided by Harley (1992); this guide covers all aspects of management, especially the control options.
Cultural Control
In Malaysia, recommended control include involves slashing and brushing the stem with herbicide to be repeated every 6 months to prevent regeneration (Anwar, 2001).
In Australia, viable seeds have been found a decade after stand removal. The dormant seed bank should be be taken into consideration when devising management strategies including type of control, stocking rates and duration of follow-up control of seedlings (Lukitsch and Elliott, 2012).
Mechanical Control
In Malaysia, recommended control includes digging and uprooting plants to remove stands (Anwar, 2001). Schatz (2001) investigated the impact of cutting height on mortality. Cutting plants off ca. 10 cm below ground level killed all plants whereas cutting off at ground level or 15 cm above ground level resulted in resprouting in most plants. Thus slashing and chaining is not effective in controlling the weed whereas blade ploughing, a method which cuts the plant below ground level, can be an efficient physical control method.
Chemical Control
Due to the variable regulations around (de-)registration of pesticides, we are for the moment not including any specific chemical control recommendations. For further information, we recommend you visit the following resources:
•
EU pesticides database (http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/eu-pesticides-database/)
•
PAN pesticide database (www.pesticideinfo.org)
•
Your national pesticide guide
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © CABI. CABI is a registered EU trademark. This article is published under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
History
Published online: 4 October 2022
Language
English
Authors
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