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Mimosa pigra, commonly known as the giant sensitive tree ( pigra = lazy, slow), is a species of plant of the genus Mimosa, in the family Fabaceae.
The genus Mimosa (Mimosaceae) contains 400–450 species, most of which are native to South America. M. pigra is a woody shrub native to Neotropics but which has now become widespread throughout the tropics. In Groves R.H., Sheppard R.C.H., Richardson R.G. The biology of Australian weeds R.G. and F.J. Richardson Publishers, Melbourne, Australia. It has been listed as one of the world's 100 worst invasive species and forms dense, thorny, impenetrable thickets, particularly in wet areas.
Mimosa pigra can germinate year round if the soil is moist but not flooded. However, most germination takes place at the start and end of the wet season. Growth in a seedling is rapid, and flowering occurs between 4 and 12 months after germination. The process from flower bud to ripe seed takes about five weeks.
Mimosa pigra is closely related to Mimosa pudica (common sensitive plant). It can be distinguished from Mimosa pudica by its large size, large pods (6 to 8 cm long as opposed to 2.5 cm long) and leaves, which have 6 to 16 pairs of pinnae as opposed to 1 to 2 pairs on Mimosa pudica leaves.
Mimosa pigra favours wet, tropical climates. It does not appear to grow preferentially in any one soil type, but is most commonly found in moist situations such as floodplains and river banks in soils ranging from black cracking clays throughout sandy clays to coarse siliceous river sand.
Lonsdale W.M., Miller I.L., Forno I.W. (1995). ‘Mimosa pigra L’. In: Groves R.H., Sheppard R.C.H., Richardson R.G. (eds) ‘The biology of Australian weeds’. R.G. and F.J. Richardson Publishers, Melbourne, Australia, pp 169–188.
In Sri Lanka it was first seen in 1996 along a 1 kilometer stretch of banks of the Mahaweli River near Kandy in the Central Province. From there it spread further along the banks and flood plains of the Mahaweli River and the shores of the Victoria and Randenigala Dams. Its seeds are spread by the river flow and by transport of sand mined from the river. It is now also found in abandoned paddy fields, other river and stream banks, and gardens in 4 districts across 3 provinces.B. Marambe; L. Amarasinghe; K. Silva; G. Gamage; S. Dissanayake; A. Seneviratne. ”Distribution, biology and management of Mimosa pigra in Sri Lanka”, 2004, at http://www.weeds.org.au/WoNS/mimosa/docs/awc15-17.pdf . Retrieved 21.2.2012.
Distribution and habitat
Mimosa pigra is native to tropical America, where it occurs in a wide belt extending from Mexico through Central America to Northern Argentina.
In: Global Invasive Species Database, 2005. ‘Mimosa pigra.’ Available from: http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=41&fr=1&sts=sss&lang=EN
It is now widespread throughout the tropics and is a serious weed in Africa, India, South-East Asia (in Cambodia, it is called ព្រះខ្លបយក្ស /prĕəh kʰlɑːp jĕəʔ/ “giant mimosa,” បន្លាយួន /bɑnlaː juən/ “Vietnamese thorn”, or បន្លាយក្ស /bɑnlaː jĕəʔ/ “giant’s thorn”Tan Boun Suy, “ Mimosa pigra L. : Problématique au Cambodge et synthèse bibliographique,” Udaya ឧទ័យ 2, 2001, pp. 67-70; Pauline Dy Phon, វចនានុក្រមរុក្ខជាតិប្រើប្រាស់ក្នុងប្រទេសកម្ពុជា, Dictionnaire des Plantes utilisées au Cambodge, Dictionary of Plants used in Cambodia, ភ្នំពេញ Phnom Penh, បោះពុម្ពលើកទី ១, រោងពុម្ព ហ ធីម អូឡាំពិក (រក្សាសិទ្ធិ៖ អ្នកគ្រូ ឌី ផុន) គ.ស. ២០០០, ទំព័រ ៤៤១, 1st edition: 2000, Imprimerie Olympic Hor Thim (© Pauline Dy Phon), 1er tirage : 2000, Imprimerie Olympic Hor Thim, p. 441; LETI, Mathieu, HUL Sovanmoly, Jean-Gabriel FOUCHÉ, CHENG Sun Kaing, Bruno DAVID, Flore photographique du Cambodge, Paris: Privat, 2013, p. 266.), Australia and some Pacific Islands.
Invasive species
Mimosa pigra is on the list on the world's 100 worst invasive species in the Invasive Species Specialist Groups Global Invasive Species Database. It has been documented in: Australia, Cambodia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Eswatini, Ghana, Guinea, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Zambia, United States, and Vietnam.
Noxious weed in Australia
In Australia, Mimosa pigra has been declared a noxious weed or given similar status under various weed or quarantine acts. It has been ranked as the tenth most problematic weed and is listed on the Weeds of National Significance. It is currently restricted to the Northern Territory where it infests approximately 80,000 hectares of coastal floodplain.
See also
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