At first glance, there is nothing strange about the shameplant. It looks like any other bush plant. However, if we touch the leaves, they will close quickly.
- Shameplant (Mimosa pudica) comes from South America and Central America. Today, the shameplant can be found in tropical and subtropical areas around the world.
- Shameplant is a bush plant. The stems are hairy and thorny. Its height can reach 4.5 meters.
- The flowers are pink or purple. This flower will be pollinated by insects and wind.
- The leaves of the shameplant are compound leaves. These leaves will close at night. During the day, when touched, warmed, and shaken, the leaves of the shameplant will also close quickly. Then the stalk drooped and withered.
- The leaf that closes when touched will reopen after a few minutes.
- This movement of closing the leaves to the touch is called seismonasti.
- The movement of closing the leaves on the shameplant is useful for protecting itself from predatory animals. As soon as the animal sees the moving leaves, it gets scared. And when it sees the stalks that seem to wither, the animal will lose its appetite.
- In some areas in Southeast Asia and Africa, the shameplant is commonly used as medicine.
- Shameplant is a soil fertilizing plant like other legumes. The roots can be in a mutualism symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria that fertilize the soil.
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