touch-me-not

Description:

Mimosa pudica (from Latin: pudica "shy, bashful or shrinking"; also called Sensitive Plant), 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. The species is native to South America and Central America, but is now a pantropical weed.

Habitat:

Mimosa pudica is native to South America and Central America. It has been introduced to many other regions and is regarded as an invasive species in Tanzania, South Asia and South East Asia and many Pacific Islands. It is regarded as invasive in parts of Australia and is a declared weed in the Northern Territory, and Western Australia although not naturalized there. Control is recommended in Queensland. It has also been introduced to Nigeria, Seychelles, Mauritius and East Asia but is not regarded as invasive in those places. In the United States of America, it grows in Florida, Hawaii, Virginia, Maryland, Puerto Rico, Texas, and the Virgin Islands

Notes:

Its extract immobilizes the filariform larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis in less than one hour. In contemporary medicine, Mimosa pudica is being investigated for its potential to yield novel chemotherapeutic compounds. It contains an alkaloid called mimosine, which has been found to have potent antiproliferative and apoptotic effects. Aqueous extracts of the roots of the plant have shown significant neutralizing effects in the lethality of the venom of the monocled cobra (Naja Kaouthia). It appears to inhibit the myotoxicity and enzyme activity of cobra venom