Pankaj Oudhia
Society for Parthenium Management (SOPAM)
28-A, Geeta Nagar, Raipur - 492001 India
pankajoudhia@gmail.com
www.pankajoudhia.com
Copyright © 2004. All Rights Reserved. Quotation from this document should cite and acknowledge the contributor.
Scientific Name: Mimosa pudica Linn.
Family: Mimosoideae
English Name: Sensitive Plant, Bashful Mimosa, Humble Plant, Touch-me-not
Hindi Name: Chhui-Mui, Lajwanti, Lajjawati, Lajalu, Lajak
Botanical differences among the major species of Mimosa.
| Characters | M. pudica | M. himalayana syn. M. rubicaulis |
M. hamata |
| Plant | Small woody herbs or low-spreading undershrub with hairy and prickly branches, hairs glandular | A large straggling shrub, studded with straw-coloured, hooked prickels | A much branched, armed shrub, branches downy, with numerous straw-coloured, curced or straight prickles |
| Leaves | Bipinnate, sensitive to touch, pinnae 1-2 pairs, leaflets 10-20 pairs, linear, glabrous | Bipinnate, main rachis with hooked prickles, pinnae 5-11 pairs, linear-oblong | 2-pinante, main rachis pubescent, some timely prickly, leaflets 6-10 pairs |
| Flowers | Heads small, peduncled, globose, axilalry, pink-purple, Calyx campanulate, Petals crenate towards base | Numerous, in globose heads, peduncles crowded at the ends of branchlets | 4-merous in globose heads, peduncles axillary, crowded at the end of branches |
| Pods | 1.5-2.5 cm long, closely prickly on the sutures | 7-10 cm long, falcate, glabrous, one seeded joints, persistant but not prickly | 5-7 cm long, falcate, consisting 4-8 one seeded joints, pubescent |
| Flowering and Fruiting time | Sept.-March in Indian conditions | August-Sept. and October in Indian conditions | Aug.-Nov. and Dec.-Feb. in Indian conditions |
Useful Parts: Roots, leaves and flower heads.
Traditional Medicinal Uses: According to Ayurveda, root is bitter, acrid, cooling, vulnerary, alexipharmic and used in treatment of biliousness, leprosy, dysentery, vaginal and uterine complaints, inflammations, burning sensation, fatigue, asthma, leucoderma, blood diseases etc. According to the Unani system of medicine, root is resolvent, alternative, useful in diseases arising from blood impurities and bile, bilious fevers, piles, jaundice, leprosy etc.
Chemical Constituent: Contains an alkaloid Mimosine. Roots contain tannin, ash, calcium oxalate crystals and mimosin.
Other Uses
Grown as garden herb
Useful for green manuring
Fixes nitrogen
Can be used as fodder.
Suitable for growing in wastelands
Seed yield an oil like Soybean oil with similar properties
References
Agharkar, S.P. (1991). Medicinal plants of Bombay Presidency. Pbl. Scientific
publishers, Jodhpur, India: 142-143.
Bhandari, M.M. (1990). Flora of the Indian Desert. Pbl. MPS Repros, Jodhpur,
India: 136.
Caius, J.F. (1980). Medicinal and poisonous Legumes of India. Pbl. Scientific
Publishers, Jodhpur, India.: 174-177.
Paranjpe, P. (1999). Indian medicinal plants: Forgotten healers. Pbl. Chaukhamba
Sanskrit Pratisthan, Delhi, India.: 155-156.
Singh, U., Wadhwani, A.M. and Johri, B.M. (1996). Dictionary of Economic plants
of India. Pbl. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India: 142.
Verma, D.M. Balakrishnan, H.P. and Dixit, R.D. (1993). Flora of Madhya Pradesh
(Vol.I), Pbl. Botanical survey of India, Calcutta, India.: 440-441
Resource Person
Pankaj Oudhia
Society for Parthenium Management (SOPAM)
28-A, Geeta Nagar, Raipur - 492001 India
https://archive.org/details/pankajoudhia
http://www.youtube.com/user/pankajoudhia?feature=results_main
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pankajoudhia/
Copyright © 2014, Purdue University, all rights reserved. Purdue University is an equal access/equal opportunity university. If you have trouble accessing this page because of a disability, please contact the NewCROP Center | email: newcrop@purdue.edu | phone: 765-494-6968.
Last modified: July 15 2020 by aw