Video of Sensitive plant, Mimosa pudica, Bashful plant, Pua-hilahila.

This is a video of me having fun with a Sensitive plant, Mimosa pudica. Also known as Bashful plant, and Pua-hilahila.

We have had lots of rain lately, and a pretty mild winter so far, perfect conditions for Mimosa species to self seed.

The flowers of the Sensitive plant are a cute, edible, pom pom that looks like something from a Dr Seuss book. The plant is from the legume family, so it fixes nitrogen. It has weedy potential in humid tropical areas, and it does have thorns. Propagation is by seed, or cutting, however, if you watch my video, you will see why I would be reluctant to take cuttings off these sweet little guys. The herb is supposed to have a relaxant effect and even touching the leaves is said to be calming. I have to admit that after playing with the little guy in the video, I felt compelled to give it a little pat and a kiss thank-you, as if it were a good puppy. While I anthropomorphise plants a fair bit, (I talk to them and call them by pronouns a lot), I honestly have never felt like giving a plant a peck before!

The following is adapted from Isabel Shipard’s How can I use Herbs in my daily life?, Published 2003, (6th edition 2013) by David Stewart, Nambour, Australia. ISBN: 0-646-42248-0:

Mimosa Pudica is a folk remedy, considered to be healing to the brain and central nervous system.
Tea made from the leaves is purported to be good for relieving stress and tension, and for a number of chronic illnesses of the central nervous system. It is also said to be a cure for insomnia, grey hair and arthritis.
Recipe for tea: 16 to 20 fresh leaflets, or 2 teaspoons dried herb steeped in 2.5 metric cups of boiling water, or gently simmered for 20 minutes. Drink 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup in the evening.

Cover My A.: This is just interesting information, not medical advice, and not a claim of a magical cure for anything. Always check with a doctor before using herbs as medicine. I am not a doctor, naturopath, or wisewoman. Don't eat anything weird while pregnant. Don't stick your head in an oven to see if it's on.

very cute =)

like most of the mimosa family, m. pudica is also a hallucinogen, containing DMT.
combined with a MAOI, the DMT found in the roots is orally active.
within a shamanic tradition, the plant being anthropomorphised would make perfect sense, and it would be considered a plant teacher, that has something to teach to people.

it, or perhaps i should say SHE, and other mimosas have a long history of being used in rituals, for getting into a trance state.

with that said, it is important not to go overboard with it, even using it in small doses medicinally for sedative and relaxing properties. it does also have some toxic properties

great video and information...I didn't know that any parts were edible/medicinal. Coincidentally, we have been passing a nice patch on our morning walk all week and just this morning I remembered the camera....our kids loved this plant when they were little.....I don't see it much anymore...this is the only patch we've seen in near us and there is none on our forty acres.

Thanks
I didn't know that parts of the plant were hallucinogenic. I had a little giggle, because I was wondering how someone who was high would react to the sentient looking movements.
At work when we sell medicinal plants there are so many legal BS things, that we tend to shy away from selling known hallucinogens. We used to sell coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides), but it got removed off the shelf by higher ups. Same with blue lotus, dagnabbit. I'll consider not telling my manager this new information.
Shamans are people too, we shouldn't discriminate, they have a right to buy quality organic plants ) I'm sure that's an under-catered for market.

well its not that well known, youd have to be pretty well studied, or from one of those cultures, to know about its use. and most of the time, people only talk about mimosa hostillis, even though theres a dozen or more other species of mimosa that are basically similar in effects. it is perfectly legal.

that it contains DMT, is also not that rare...theres like hundreds ---> thousands of plants that contain DMT. you can find DMT containing plants all over, like some grasses and reeds growing on the edge of a parking lot! or whatever...its pretty common. but the mimosas do have a long history of being used ritualistically...in certain cultures...

it is called several names but most well known by the name jurema, this what they call both the ritual and the plant. but theres several species of mimosa, all referred to as the same name, and all were used in a similar way in different places they are native to...

more info if you are curious-
http://marcelobolshaw.blogspot.com/2008/08/queen-jurema.html

Those photos are of our native Mimosa nuttalli, the sensitive brier, whose leaves move, but at a slower speed than those of Mimosa pudica.

Another interesting moving plant is Desmodium gyrans (aka D. motorium and Codariocalyx motorius), a trifoliate plant whose small lateral leaves are continually moving at a speed easily visible to the naked eye.

Oh!! I just played with the kids, it was so much fun. The kids love it, they called it an experiment and after playing they just went on internet searching for the reason of how sensitive plant's leaf can close when they touch it.
I think it is very good source of learning for the kids, it is like the school from nature.