Mimosa pudica var. unijuga (Duchass. & Walp.) Griseb.

  • Authors

    Rupert C. Barneby

  • Authority

    Barneby, Rupert C. 1991. Sensitivae Censitae. A description of the genus Mimosa Linnaeus (Mimosaceae) in the New World. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 65: 1-835.

  • Family

    Mimosaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Mimosa pudica var. unijuga (Duchass. & Walp.) Griseb.

  • Type

    379a. Mimosa pudica Linnaeus var. unijuga (Walpers & Duchassaing) Grisebach, Abh. Königl. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen 7: 211. 1857 & Fl. Brit. W.I. 219. 1864. M. unijuga Walpers & Duchassaing, Linnaea 23: 744. 1850.— "Crescit in insula Guadeloupe et ad Caracas (

  • Synonyms

    Mimosa unijuga Duchass. & Walp., Mimosa irritabilis C.Presl, Mimosa pudibunda Willd., Mimosa endymionis Mart., Mimosa pudica L., Mimosa pudica f. glabrior Benth.

  • Description

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    Variety Description - Characters as given in key to varieties; stems hispidulous to subglabrous.

    Distribution and Ecology - On streambanks, along ditches, in disturbed or waste places and in pastures, mostly below 250 m, but as a weed ascending to 1000 m or more, widespread and locally abundant around and within the Caribbean basin, thence extending rarely to the Bahamas and w. to the s. periphery of Gulf of Mexico, and s. to scattered stations on both slopes in Central America; in S. America s. interruptedly through Colombia to lowland w. Ecuador, and from Trinidad s. through the Guianas to Pará, Brazil, discontinuously to Bahia; isolated in n.-e. Bolivia and adj. Brazil (Rondônia). In the Old World extensively naturalized in s.-e. Asia (Burma, Vietnam), Sri Lanka, Polynesia, and sparingly so in e. tropical Africa (Brenan, 1959), Reunion. Hawaiian Is. Map 57.

  • Discussion

    It seems likely, but not demonstrable from hard evidence, that an earlier name for var. unijuga is M. pudica ß glabrata DeCandolle, Prodr. 2: 426. 1825, based on Mimosa humilis, frutescens et spinosa, siliquis conglobatis Plumier ex Burman, Pl. amer. fasc. 9: t. 202. 1759, "in ins. Sancti-Domingi et Sancti-thornasii." —All modem collections from Hispaniola that I have seen represent var. unijuga, the dominant form of the species throughout the Antilles, as do all the five known collections from St. thornas. However, Plumier’s plate, at least in Burman’s reproduction, lacks the fine detail on which varietal identity hinges, and I therefore follow Brenan in discarding var. glabrata as ambiguous.

  • Distribution

    Mexico North America| Bahamas South America| Ecuador South America| Bolivia South America| Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Colombia South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Vietnam Asia| Burma Asia| Sri Lanka