Mimosa biuncifera Benth.

  • Authority

    Isley, Duane. 1973. Leguminosae of the United States: I. Subfamily. Mimosoideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25 (1): 1-152.

  • Family

    Mimosaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Mimosa biuncifera Benth.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Prickly, often rounded shrub, .5-2 m, usually with zigzag branches. Leaves alternate, or some from spurs, glabrate to cinereous-puberulent; leafstalk .5-2 (-3) cm; pinnae 1-8 pairs; leaflets 5-12 pairs, elliptic to oblong, 1.5-5 mm, nearly symmetric; secondary venation distinct or not. Stipules filiform, 3-5 mm. Prickles mostly nodal or subnodal, paired or single, flattened, usually recurved. Flowers in white to pinkish, often fragrant heads, 1-1.3 cm diam, paired (to 3-4) in leaf axils or in terminal racemes. Perianth glabrate to puberulent; calyx tubular (.8-) 1-1.3(-1.8) mm, ½-¾ as long as corolla; corolla 2.3-3 mm long, tube longer than lobes. Legume oblong, straight or curved (to 180°), 2-4 cm long, 3-5(-6) mm wide; valves glabrate or puberulent, chartaceous, dark brown, variously constricted but neither strongly expressed over seeds nor segmented; margins usually with prickles, separating from valves at maturity.

  • Discussion

    Mimosopsis biuncifera (Benth.) Britt. & Rose M. lindheimeri (Gray) Britt. & Rose Mimosa biuncifera var. lindheimeri (Gray) Rob. Mimosopsis flexuosa auct. pro parte M. wherryana auct. CN 2n = 52 (Turner & Fearing, 1960a). The interpretational problems within Mimosa biuncifera and betwixt it and several other species (e.g., M. warnockii, M. wherryana) are legion. I refer the reader to a previous disquistion (Isely, 1971b), but I must note that pinnae number is geographically oriented (Map 29), partial basis of Turner’s (1959) varieties. While I have been unable satisfactorily to use Turner’s delimitations, I have no quarrel with his basic thesis; M. biuncifera contains varietal elements that I likewise have failed satisfactorily to discern. Possibly these include both diploid the tetraploid groups. (See M. warnockii.) Mimosa biuncifera and M. borealis are the two major complexes of mimosas in the southwestern United States and are frequently confused. They can usually be distinguished by the characters provided in the key. Introgression between them has been suggested, but I doubt that it occurs on more than a local basis.

  • Distribution

    C Texas to s Arizona. Limestone or clay hills to sandy washes, eroded breaks, canyon slopes and bottoms, roadsides; in w portion of range, igneous mountain slopes to desert hills and flats; occurring as scattered subshrubs to abundant and thicket-forming. 2500-7000 ft. (April) May-Aug. Mexico.

    United States of America North America| Mexico North America|