Characteristics of mimosa: distinctive features, agricultural technology when growing in the garden, steps for breeding silver acacia, difficulties in care, species. Mimosa (Mimosa) belongs to the genus of flowering plants that are part of the legumes (Fabaceae) or Acacia (Acacia). In this genus, there are from 350 to 400 varieties, distinguished by flowers of fluffy outlines with a cream or yellow tint. But a little earlier, mimosa was attributed to its own family of Mimosaceae (Mimosaceae). The native habitat of this representative of the flora is in the southeast of the continent of Australia, as well as on the island of Tasmania. But today this plant can be found far from its native places - on the southern coast of Europe, the African continent and the United States, mimosa is not uncommon and on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, where it has been cultivated since the middle of the 19th century (1852).
This plant is often called Silver Acacia or Acacia dealbata. But often it is also called in literary sources the Australian acacia, since it comes from the Australian continent. The plant got its well-known name in the 19th century, which was given to it by botanists from the Latin word "mimus" which means "mime, mimic actor". So, at first they called only the bashful mimosa variety, all because the plant has the properties of foliage movement when touched, which is very reminiscent of mime gestures.
Mimosa is an evergreen grasses, shrubs and trees with a low growth rate and medium size. It is not uncommon for tree-like specimens to reach a height of 10–12 m (but in their homeland, branches reach up to 45 m). The trunk of the plant is covered with thorns, although the bark itself is smooth with a dark gray color, the color of the foliage is silvery-green (apparently, this was the reason for the species name - Silver Acacia). With its outlines, the leaf plates of mimosa resemble fern fronds (as the leaves of these plants are called), since their shape is double-feathery. The length of the leaf can be up to 30 cm, there are sensitive hairs on its surface.
The popularity of this plant is that the process of its flowering begins immediately after the end of winter comes and ends almost at the very beginning of spring, therefore it is customary to consider mimosa in many countries a "harbinger of spring". However, the duration of flowering directly depends on the conditions and the growing zone, it can last for a maximum of 1, 5–2 months. The number of parts that make up the flower is quadruple, occasionally there can be 3 or 6. The number of stamens is the same or it can be twice as many, and they protrude significantly from the corolla. Flowers are collected in the form of elongated dense heads or tassels. The color of the flowers is deep yellow or purple, the type of flowers due to the fluffy stamens is spherical, while the diameter is approximately 5–20 mm. The flowers have a delicate and unique aroma.
In the northern hemisphere, fruit ripening occurs closer to autumn days. Mimosa fruits are beans that are slightly curved and flattened. In length, they reach 7-9 cm. Inside the beans there are seeds of dark brown or black color. They are also flat and rather hard, 3–4 mm long.
The most famous variety of silver acacia is Mimosa pudica. It is she who is grown as a decorative phytodecoration of park and backyard areas. Often this plant takes part in physiological experiments.
Agrotechnics when growing mimosa on a personal plot
- Selection of a location for disembarkation. Since the plant is still a "resident" of tropical areas, it is problematic to grow it in our climatic zone, for this mimosa is kept in rooms or greenhouses, greenhouses or winter gardens. Otherwise, the plant is grown as an annual, since by the autumn days the shoots are strongly stretched and the bush loses its attractiveness, but it is easy to renew it from seeds. If you are in a climate where winters are mild, then it is worth choosing a place in a sunlit area - in the southern, southeastern, southwestern, eastern or western locations. All this is because in shading, silver acacia will lose its decorative appearance, and you can not wait for flowering. And only in the presence of bright solar insolation can mimosa form a compact bush or bloom profusely. The landing site must be sheltered from the wind. However, if the plant is immediately planted on the south side, then sunburn on the leaf plates can occur. Therefore, from the first time, until adaptation takes place, a small shading is carried out. For mimosa, slow development and a slow set of height parameters are noted.
- Temperature indicators during cultivation mimosas in winter should not fall below 10 degrees below zero.
- Planting soil mimosa is selected taking into account its natural "predilections". The optimal composition of the substrate is the composition of the upper soil layer (sod), peat, river sand and prepared humus. All parts of the constituents are equal. It is recommended to lay a layer of expanded clay of the middle fraction at the bottom of the hole - this will save the root system from waterlogging. If the plant is grown as a perennial, then it will need a transplant in the spring. It is recommended to periodically loosen the soil and remove weeds.
- Watering. Growing mimosa requires normal moisture and watering conditions, of course, in natural conditions, the weather decides everything. However, if the summer is very hot, then sometimes you will have to water the silver acacia, although the plant is drought-resistant. It is advisable to use collected rain or river water, but if there is none, then the tap water is passed through a filter, boiled and defended a little. Then the water from the container is carefully drained so as not to capture the sediment. Watering at first is needed until complete rooting, when the plant was just transplanted.
- Fertilizing the substrate. For mimosa, it is recommended to feed in the spring-summer period, when the process of active vegetation and flowering is underway. You can use full mineral complexes dissolved in water for irrigation twice a month, and when flowers appear, they use preparations for flowering plants.
- General care behind mimosa is not difficult, since it is even possible not to carry out the molding of the plant's horse. However, if silver acacia is used as a perennial, then it is recommended to cut off too elongated shoots of the plant. If there is enough light, mimosa will quickly make up for their loss.
Steps to self-propagate mimosa
To get a new plant of silver acacia, it is recommended to sow its seeds or plant cuttings.
If mimosa is grown from seed, then it can be propagated annually. Sowing seeds is carried out in early to mid-spring. Seed material is buried 5 mm into a peat-sandy substrate and the container with crops is covered with plastic wrap. The germination temperature should be maintained at about 25 degrees. After the first shoots appear and a pair of true leaves are formed on them, then you can start diving 2-3 seedlings into pots with a diameter of 7 cm. The substrate is used from a mixture of turf soil, leafy soil, river sand in the proportion (2: 2: 1). But you can use a universal soil mixture or compositions for flowering plants.
When the root system braids all the substrate provided to it, then the mimosa is transplanted into a small container using the transfer method (transfer is a method without destroying the earthen coma, so the roots are least injured). When the threat of frost passes, and the seedlings reach the age of 2-3 months, then they can be planted with mimosa in open ground and no longer disturbed, since the plant does not tolerate transplants well.
It is a little easier to grow mimosa by cuttings in the spring or late summer. The length of the blanks should not be in the range of 5-10 cm. Cutting is carried out in July-August from adult specimens. Then the cuttings are planted in peat-sandy soil and covered with a glass container or a cut plastic bottle, you can wrap it in a plastic bag. It will be necessary to regularly remove the substrate by airing and moisten the soil when it dries. Often, offspring can form at the base of the stem of an adult mimosa; they can also be used for harvesting cuttings. Such parts of silver acacia are cut with a sharp knife. Rooting period is usually 2-3 months, with high soil and air humidity. When there are clear signs of rooting, then you can plant the cuttings in open ground in a suitable place.
Difficulty caring for mimosa
If the plant is grown in rooms, then it can be affected by aphids or spider mites, but such pests are not uncommon in the garden. At the first sign of harmful insects:
- in the first case, these are small bugs of green and black color, covering parts of the plant with a sugary sticky bloom;
- in the second - a thin cobweb on the back of the foliage and in internodes, a change in the shape and color of the leaf plates, followed by their fall.
It is recommended to spray with insecticidal preparations, with re-treatment after a week.
If there is not enough moisture for mimosa, then the leaf plates turn yellow and wither. If watering is also carried out irregularly, then the leaves will begin to fall off. When the weather is rather rainy, the silver acacia will not open its leaves during the day and will begin to turn yellow. When mimosa is planted in a very shady place, its shoots will begin to stretch strongly, and it will be difficult to wait for flowering in such places with low light levels. Also, mimosa flowering will not occur if the temperature is lower than expected.
Facts to note about the mimosa plant
In many countries of the world, it is with mimosa that the arrival of spring is associated, and also lush celebrations are held dedicated to this delicate plant with bright flowers-suns. Such festival holidays are held, including in France and Montenegro.
Mimosa has the ability to react to any mechanical stress to which its parts are exposed. At the slightest touch, the plant folds the leaves, and lowers the branches down. However, after 20-30 minutes, the appearance of the mimosa becomes its original. The same reaction in mimosa and to the change of day, at night the leaves of the plant are folded, but with the first rays of the sun they take on a "working state". However, if you often carry out experiments on delicate silver acacia, subjecting its hairs to irritation, then it will quickly become depleted.
Dried Mimosa root (Mimosa tenuiflora) contains about 1% dimethyltryptamine, which is referred to as DMT, and the trunk bark contains up to 0.03% of this substance. It was the bark of the people living in the north-east of Brazil that was traditionally used as the main psychoactive decoction, which was called "yurema".
The bashful mimosa variety is poisonous and causes cattle poisoning if it grows on pastures. Also, because of the allergens that pollen gives off, you should not give mimosa and give it to people with allergies.
Types of mimosa
- Mimosa bashful (Mimosa pudica) a perennial with a shrub or semi-shrub form of life, originating from the tropical regions of South America, but at the moment it is cultivated around the globe as an ornamental plant. In height, this evergreen representative of the flora reaches 0.5–1 m, occasionally the height can be up to 1.5 m. The plant's stem is covered with thorns, the branches are straight with pubescence. The shape of the leaf plate is bipinnate (pinnately oblong-lanceolate), due to the coverage of the surface with hairs, the foliage is very sensitive and reacts to touch (it can roll up). The inflorescence is yellow or purple-pink in color, consists of many flowers and has the shape of a dense head or brush. The flower looks fluffy because of the stamens protruding from the corolla. Flowers emerge from the leaf axils. When fruiting, a pod is formed containing 2–4 pairs of seeds. Pollination occurs through wind or insects. The flowering period is June-August. However, in indoor conditions, the plant is grown as an annual. The native habitat falls on the lands of the tropical part of South America, capturing its central part. However, the plant is cultivated throughout the tropical territory, which includes Africa, northern Australia, Hawaii and the Antilles, settles in damp thickets. All over the world it is grown as an indoor or greenhouse crop.
- Mimosa muted (Mimosa tenuiflora) it can be both a shrub and a small tree, only up to 8 m. In less than 5 years the plant reaches 4–5 m. The bark of the trunk is dark brown to gray in color. It can split along its length, but inside it is reddish in color. The wood is very dense. This species comes from the territories of Brazil, but is also found in the northern and southern parts of Mexico, where it is used for psychoactive decoctions. It grows at low altitudes, but can spread around 1000 meters above sea level. The foliage resembles fern, finely feathery, leaflets reach 5–6 cm in length. Each composite leaf contains about 15–33 pairs of green-colored leaves. The flowers are white, fragrant, gathers in inflorescences of a freely cylindrical shape, with a length of 4-8 cm. In the Northern Hemisphere, this species blooms and bears fruit from November to June-July, and in the Southern Hemisphere, these processes last from September to January, and fruiting continues from February to April. Fruits are 2.5–5 cm long, the surface is fragile. Inside the pod there are 4–6 seeds, their shape is oval, flat, color is light brown, they are 3–4 mm in diameter. A tree can fix nitrogen while conditioning the soil, allowing other plants to grow on it.
- Rough mimosa (Mimosa scabrella). The native habitat is in South America. This variety has flowers that gather in colorful panicles of a snow-white color scheme.
- Lazy mimosa (Mimosa pigra) is a perennial with increased decorative effect. The shoots of the plant are straight and branched, in height they can reach 0.5 meters. Globular capitate inflorescences are collected from white flowers. Fern-like leaf plates with a high degree of sensitivity.
- Mimosa feline (Mimosa aculeaticarpa) has the shape of a spreading shrub, an approximate height of 1 m, but often the height doubles. Shoots covered with hairs, have back-protruding spines. Leaves are bipinnate, leaflets are oblong, small. The flowers are white or white-pink, from which spherical capitate inflorescences are collected. Fruits are flattened pods with a length of 4 cm, between seeds the beans are more spliced and split when fully ripe. It grows in central and southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, western and central Texas, and northern Mexico.
How mimosa grows, see the video below:
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