The key difference between Mimosa hostilis and Mimosa pudica is that Mimosa hostilis does not show nyctinastic movement (sleeping moment) upon touch, while Mimosa pudica shows nyctinastic movement upon touch.
Mimosa is a genus comprised of around 420 species of different plants, including herbs and shrubs. It belongs to the kingdom Plantae. Out of the many different species of Mimosa, two subtypes are prominent due to their characteristic features. They are Mimosa pudica, which shows nyctinastic movement upon touch, and Mimosa hostiles, which do not show sleeping moments.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Mimosa Hostilis
3. What is Mimosa Pudica
4. Similarities – Mimosa Hostilis and Mimosa Pudica
5. Mimosa Hostilis vs Mimosa Pudica in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Mimosa Hostilis vs Mimosa Pudica
What is Mimosa Hostilis?
Mimosa hostilis is a fern-like tree. It belongs to the kingdom Plantae and the family Fabaceae. The other name for Mimosa hostilis is Mimosa tenuiflora. Its leaves are finely pinnate, and each leaf compound consists of around 30 pairs of leaflets. Its fine branches grow up to 5 cm long. The tree grows up to about eight meters in height. A white fragrant flower grows with cylindrical spikes.
Figure 01: Mimosa hostilis
Mimosa hostilis plant blossoms and produces fruits in months from November to July in the Northern hemisphere and primarily from September to January in the Southern hemisphere. Each pod in the fruit contains about six seeds that are oval and flat. The size of each seed varies from 3-4 mm. The fruit is brittle. The bark of the tree is dark brown to gray in color. The significance of Mimosa hostilis is that the tree grows rapidly and healthily even after ecological disturbances and stress due to forest fires. The leaves of these plants shed and form a thin layer of mulch and convert into humus. Mimosa hostilis is a good nitrogen-fixing plant.
What is Mimosa Pudica?
Mimosa pudica is an annual or perennial plant that belongs to the kingdom Plantae and the family Fabaceae. This plant is sensitive to touch; hence is referred to as the sleeping plant. Its leaf orientation changes upon touch and goes into a nyctinastic movement.
Figure 02: Mimosa pudica
The stem of Mimosa pudica is erect in young plants; with age, it becomes trailing and creeping. The slender stem grows up to a size of 1.5 m or 5 ft in height. The leaves of Mimosa pudica are bipinnately compound and consist of one or two pinnae pairs. Each pinna consists of 10-25 leaflets.
Another characteristic feature of Mimosapudica is that it consists of prickly petioles. The fruit of Mimosa pudica consists of clusters, and the size varies from 1-2 cm. The clusters consist of 2-8 pods in each fruit. The seeds of Mimosa pudica are of pale brown color, and the size of each seed is about 2.5 mm. The seed coat of Mimosa pudica seeds is hard. This restricts the seed germination process. The seed dormancy terminates at high temperatures.
What are the Similarities Between Mimosa Hostilis and Mimosa Pudica?
- Mimosa hostiles and Mimosa pudica belong to the kingdom plantae.
- They belong to the same family, Fabaceae.
- They are flowering plants (angiosperms) and are seed plants.
What is the Difference Between Mimosa Hostilis and Mimosa Pudica?
Mimosa hostilis does not show nyctinastic movement upon touch, while Mimosa pudica shows nyctinastic movement upon touch. Thus, this is the key difference between Mimosa hostiles and Mimosa pudica. Mimosa hostilis produces a white fragrant flower, while Mimosa pudica produces a purple flower. Moreover, the seed coat of Mimosa hostilis is not thick and facilitates germination, whereas the seed coat of Mimosa pudica is thick and inhibits germination.
The below infographic presents the differences between Mimosa hostiles and Mimosa pudica in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Mimosa Hostilis vs Mimosa Pudica
Mimosa hostilis and Mimosa pudica are two species of the genus Mimosa. Mimosa hostilis does not show nyctinastic movement upon touch, while Mimosa pudica shows nyctinastic movement upon touch. Mimosa hostilis is a fern-like tree with branches. So, this is the key difference between Mimosa hostilis and Mimosa pudica.
Reference:
1. “Mimosa hostilis.” DMT-Nexus Wiki.
2. “Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant).” CABI – Invasive Species Compendium.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Mimosa-tenuiflora-Jurema-2” By Drewpiter – Flickr: Mimosa Hostilis/Jurema (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Mimosa pudica in September month” By Suyash.dwivedi – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia