Plant of the Month: August 2006

Mimosa Pudica
Sensitive Plant

A short entry this month inspired by the surreal video found on the University of Indiana's biology server:

This plant has been identified as the Ayurvedic herb lajjalu. The bark from a close relative of this plant, Mimosa hostilis, is used in Brazilian Ayahuasca brews. It presents a pharmacological anamoly because the DMT available is orally active without any MAOI, unlike any other phytoindolic entheogens.

Other notable plants with intrinsic response movements include Desmodium gyrans (another Ayahuasca herb containing DMT) and Stylidium sp.