Sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica)

Putri Malu or shy princess or action plant or sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica) is a short shrub in Fabaceae and is easily recognized by leaves that quickly close when touched. Although a number of legion members can do the same, shy daughters react faster than other species.

M. pudica folds leaves only temporarily where a few minutes will recover or expand as before. This plant will also close the leaves when blown by the wind or exposed to heat. The process occurs by changes in turgor pressure in the leaf bone. The stimulation was also felt by other leaves that were not touched.

This seismonastic motion is an example of a tigmonastic movement that does not care where the touch comes from. The sensitive plant also folds the leaves at sunset and will recur after sunrise.

Basically shy princess plants close the leaves to protect themselves from herbivores who want to eat them. The color of the lower leaves is paler in color to make the animal think that the plant has withered and is no longer interested in eating.

The action plant has erect stems when young, but it creeps with age. The stems are slender, branched, slightly spiny and grow to a length of 1.5 m. The leaves are bipinnately compounds with one or two pairs of pinnae and 10-26 leaflets per pinna. The leaf stalks are also spiny.

The head of the pedunculate flower is pale pink or purple emerging from leaf axils with more flowers as the plant grows older. Fruit consists of groups of 2-8 pods for 1-2 cm long. The pods break into 2-5 segments and contain pale brown seeds of around 2.5 mm.

Kingdom: Plantae
Divisi: Magnoliophyta
Kelas: Magnoliopsida
Ordo: Fabales
Famili: Fabaceae
Subfamili: Mimosoideae
Genus: Mimosa
Spesies: M. pudica

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