Biology time

Mimosa Pudica  OR Shame bush plant.

What is the secret of the plant that close when touched?

When I was a kid playing with this little plant that closes its leaves when touched. I would often wonder why it happens. And couldn’t think of any answer?  Well, as animals, plants also respond to stimuli around them. They can be directed in accordance with light, gravity, temperature changes and chemical interference. But there are plants that respond literally to touch and "close" their leaves. These are call sensitive plants. This reaction is a way that they have to protect themselves. It is a natural defense that can occur in a very fast way in some species. The movement is called Seismonasty. ( plants reaction to being touched, or the movement of a plant in response to a shock, such as shaking, intense heat wind or rain.)

Sensitive plants generally have their blended compound leaves, ie the leaves are divided into smaller leaves that are called leaflets. At the base of each leaflet, there are specialized cells capable of losing water rapidly. The reaction occurs when the plant receives external stimuli such as a tone, for example.

Two chemicals present in the body of these plants are:- sodium and potassium – which process aid in directing the water into a free space between cells. This makes the leaves wither, or the leaves shrink. It's as if the base of the cells take the role of the elbow in our arm, changing the position of the leaves according to the reaction of the stimuli.  Carnivorous plants such as Dionaea muscipula also has this movement.

However, one of the best known and most sensitive plant is the Mimosa pudica/ or ( shame bush), but the sensitivity and movement of the leaves also occur in other species within the family of peas or in other such as  Biophytum and Oxalidaceae.

Medino Abraham