Mimosa somnians - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mimosa somnians is a tree in the Fabaceae

Fabaceae

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

family. It is native to the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. It is a short, low lying shrub with minuscule thorns lining its stems like hairs. Its leaves are sensitive, meaning that, when touched, they close quickly, similarly to Mimosa pudica

Mimosa pudica

Mimosa pudica , is a creeping annual or perennial herb often grown for its curiosity value: the compound leaves fold inward and droop when touched or shaken, re-opening minutes later...

. 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.

Mimosa sominanss leaflets are 4–5 mm long. The flowers form pink balls. It propagates by seeds.

Forms, subspecies and varieties

Mimosa somnians f. viscida
Mimosa somnians subsp. longipes
Mimosa somnians subsp. viscida
Mimosa somnians var. aquatica
Mimosa somnians var. deminuta
Mimosa somnians var. diminuta
Mimosa somnians var. glandulosa
Mimosa somnians var. lasiocarpa
Mimosa somnians var. leptocaulis
Mimosa somnians var. longipes
Mimosa somnians var. lupulina
Mimosa somnians var. possensis
Mimosa somnians var. somnians
Mimosa somnians var. velascoensis
Mimosa somnians var. viscida

Uses

In Guyana

Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...

, it is used to calm down irritable children via washing.

Mimosa somnians contains (whole plant) about 0.029% tryptamine

Tryptamine

Tryptamine is a monoamine alkaloid found in plants, fungi, and animals. It is based around the indole ring structure, and is chemically related to the amino acid tryptophan, from which its name is derived...

and about 0.029% methyltryptamine. It is also said to contain dimethyltryptamine

Dimethyltryptamine

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound of the tryptamine family. DMT is found in several plants, and also in trace amounts in humans and other mammals, where it is originally derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan, and ultimately produced by the enzyme INMT...

External links

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