mimosa pudica tree

[bean me]

last month i found a tree about 2 - 3 meters tall and touching its leaves it shrinked like its smaller sister mimosa pudica (sp?)

would anyone know the name of this plant and wheater the seeds are active ?

a friend will send me a bag of those seeds, so i might be able to tell you more in a little while...

[tinya]

You mean active as in still "viable", or active as in entheogenically ?

what kind of flowers it has?

im not from australia but familiar with some sensitive tree species, some pics or description of flowers/seedpods might help in ID.

Sounds very interresting to me..

[tinya]

ive been to australia 4 times in my past life,

and seen some sensitive trees there..

mimosa invisa (syn. diplotricha) grows up to 3 meters,

http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd..._HbK6K0Ycv8tI0K

and mimosa pigra (syn. pellita, asperata)up to 4 meters,

http://www.peterfaustdam.com/mimosapigra.asp

youll find lots of info on larger sized sensitive plants from the net..

pigra at least is used in africa as a snuff,

so id reckon its got (at least) 5-meo-dimy in someparts,

prob. root and stem bark (at the least.)

and most certainly mimosine (toxic to animals in long term as far as i know)

theres 1 article in eleusis mentioning pigra too:

http://www.museocivico.rovereto.tn.it/pubb...K=111253&area=3

please report further this is really interesting.

[bean me]

thanks for your info tinya

i m too far away from the place where i spotted that plant, also the seeds got collected but got lost on the way

i just remember that the leaves shrank when touched, i dont know how rare that is for a mimosa

lets hope some mimosa connaisseur sheds some light into pigra

the m pudica has many healing properties

WESTERN FUNCTIONS: Anthelminthic; antibacterial; antibiotic; anti-inflammatory [China]; antimicrobial; anti-pyretic [China]; antitussive [China]; bactericide [Trinidad]; calmative [Panama]; contraceptive [india]; diuretic [China]; emetic [Haiti, Panama, Southeast Asia, Venezuela]; expectorant [China]; poison; sedative [China, Guatemala, Java]; tonic [Costa Rica, Dominican Republic], Venezuela]; tranquilizing [China];

TRADITIONAL CHINESE ENERGETIC FUNCTIONS: Dispel pain and remove swelling.[Taiwan]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

COMMON MEDICINAL USES: 1) Insomnia 2) Irritability 3) PMS

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MEDICINAL USES:

COSMETIC

Balding [Panama]

DIGESTIVE

Dysentery, bloody dysentery (leaves ground, internal) [Haiti, India]; diarrhea [india]; enteritis, gastritis [China]

Hemorrhoids [india]

ENDOCRINE

Diabetes (whole plant) [india]

HEAD AND THROAT

Acute conjunctivitis [China]

Headache [borneo (root), Panama]

Hoarseness [Haiti]; throat diseases (seeds) [southeast Asia]

Sinus problems

Toothache (root fried in ghee, topical) [india]

INFECTION

Fever [borneo (root), India]

Sores

LYMPH

Enlarged lymph glands

MUSCULOSKELETAL / TRAUMA

Rheumatoid arthritis (root decocted) [india]

Skin wounds [india]; swelling [Java]; trauma (mashed topical)

ONCOLOGY

Tumors

PEDIATRIC

High fever in children [China]

Whooping cough (leaves fried, internal with honey) [india]

PSYCHOSPIRITUAL

Hysteria (root tied around the neck to remove evil spirits) [india]; insomnia [China, Panama, Trinidad]; irritability, "neurasthenia" [China]

REPRODUCTIVE

Labour pain [india]

Excess menstrual bleeding [india]; Menstrual difficulties [south East Asia]

RESPIRATORY

Asthma [Costa Rica, Southeast Asia]; bronchitis, lung infections with fever [China]; cough [borneo, root]

URINARY

Urinary stones [China]

Oliguria [Trinidad]

Urogenital problems

VETERINARY

Eaten by elephants in the wild, apparently for digestive problems and possibly for gastrointestinal parasites.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

OTHER USES: Poison [Venezuela]

PLANT PART USED: Whole plant

CONSTITUENTS: Ascorbic-acid, crocetin, crocetin-dimethyl-ether, d-glucuronic-acid, d-xylose, linoleic-acid, linolenic-acid, mimosine, mucilage, norepinephrine, oleic-acid, palmitic-acid, sitosterol, stearic-acid

TOXICITY: Toxic. Specific toxicity unknown.

CAUTIONS AND CONTRAINDICATIONS: Not in pregnancy

PREPARATION OF MEDICINE: Infused, decocted, mashed topical

DOSAGE: 10 - 15 grams in formula, up to 25 grams if used alone.

CLINICAL COMBINATIONS

* For insomnia and "neurasthenia", decocted with Vernonia cinerea (Yi Chi Xiang) and Oxalis repens.('Ihi)

TRADITIONAL COMBINATIONS

* Root internal for snakebite with three leaves of Azadirachta indica

* Whole plant with rice for diabetes [india]

RANGE: Throughout the Pacific, India, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, China, North and South America..

HABITAT: Full sun, well drained soil, disturbed areas, lawns. .Anywhere people walk barefoot.

GATHERING: Gloves, summer and autumn.

PROPAGATION & CULTIVATION: From seed or cuttings. (Don't propagate in Hawai'i!) Does not like over watering or root disturbance.

RESEARCH

* Water extract reduces myotoxicity of Naja kaouthia (Cobra) venom.

* Promotes neuronal health in animal studies

* Showed no significant reduction of urinary stones in rats.

* M. scabrella and M. tenuiflora contain tryptamines in the roots. It is unclear if M. pudica does.

NOTES 'N QUOTES

* Nitrogen fixer.

* Both "Pudica" and "Hilahila" mean "ashamed" or "bashful".