catclaw
Catclaw is also know as sensitive briar because the leaves close up when you touch them. I am not sure that you can tell from the photo that the flowers are little globes about an inch in diameter. They remind me of little Christmas ornaments. When they have the yellow spores at the tips they look like one of those fiber optic novelty lamps. The fruit is also visible at the bottom left.
This photo was taken in the bar ditch next to our mail box.
April 24th, 2006 @ 8:16 am
Wow. We had a plant of this when I was a kid. Those leaves are SO COOL!
It will grow as a potted plant just fine in the colder zones, and it is just facsinating to play with.
Mimosa pudica
April 24th, 2006 @ 8:58 pm
We have that same plant up in Missouri, though I think I passed 40 years before I ever discovered them.
April 25th, 2006 @ 6:04 am
I grew up in northeastern Oklahoma, and I recognize this plant from our pastures. Never knew what it was called. Thanks
Sandy
April 26th, 2006 @ 7:55 am
It’s a pretty little thing, isn’t it?
May 28th, 2006 @ 8:59 pm
I grew up some in the Philippines and I remember a plant just like this, specifically the leaves shaped like this and the fact that they closed up when you touched them. I’m so glad I ran across this post!
Is it native to Missouri? Can you purchase this at greenhouses?
November 6th, 2006 @ 6:07 pm
This isn’t the same as the catclaw of West Texas. See this website. http://www.naturesongs.com/vvplants/catclaw.html