Mimosa dysocarpa

Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Shrub General: Shrubby perennials, to 1.5 m tall, stems armed with numerous spines, the claws alternate, not occurring in pairs; young stems, leaves, and flowers villous when young, stems becoming straw-colored to dusty gray and grooved or striated when mature. Leaves: Alternate, pinnae in 5 or more pairs, leaflets 7 or more pairs, 3-6 mm long, linear-lanceolate to narrowly oblong, the terminal leaflet sometimes obovate, acute at the apex. Flowers: Pink, in dense heads with much-exserted stamens to 1.5 cm long, these forming the bulk of the inflorescence, borne in sessile, cylindrical spikes. Fruits: Pods with thick walls and tomentose surfaces, strongly coiled, strongly to lightly constricted between the seeds, armed on one side. Ecology: Found along arroyos and washes, from 3,500-6,500 ft (1067-1981 m); flowering May-September. Distribution: Texas to Arizona; Mexico. Notes: This plant is easily identified by its pink flowers with long, exserted stamens, straw-colored, striated or grooved stems, and its thick, armed pods. (Think Fairy-Duster with armed pods!) Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Unknown Synonyms: Mimosa dysocarpa var. wrightii Editor: LCrumbacher 2011