The mimosa pudica plant grows wild all over Goa. It's also known as touch me not & it's konkani name literally translates to 'shy bride'. Why, you ask?
Here are two pictures I took of the same mimosa plant a couple of months ago in Goa, just seconds apart!
The mimosa plant has a curious defense mechanism- a strong gust of wind or a light touch causes the leaves to rapidly shut. (In this case, I jostled them as I wanted them all shut). This is presumably so that they appear dead when grazing cows/goats try to eat them. They open on their own, five minutes later.
We learnt about this plant is sixth or seventh grade science, I was so smug as I knew all about them due to frequent Goa trips since I was a kid. I still 'play' with them wherever I find them.
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I used to play with these, too. Now I know it's name! I only know them through their local name "huya huya". ♥
ReplyDeleteyou find these plenty in Assam. I remember my mother telling me about these chui-mui plants when i was a kid, and i was like woow, that sounds extra-terristrial,, i actually did not believe her. But then we moved to Assam, apart from discovering whole lot of insect species, i also discover these plants in our backyard.., i ran to mom and said, hey is this what you call "chui- mui", she said haan beta, you see yeh choone se sharma jati hai.
ReplyDeleteHaha that would have probably been my reaction too, if I hadn't seen when I was younger. :)
ReplyDelete