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Plants that Move on Their Own

Hello all,
Decided to post this thread here to see what kind of success others have had with the moving plants that are out there. Currently I have Mimosa pudica, and Desmodium gyrans, both doing very well, and they clearly move fast enough to see as we all know.
Mimosa:


Desmodium:


On the Desmodium, you can clearly see the leaflets at the base of the main leaves, which move every time I even bump the greenhouse wall or even just walk past them.
I've heard some people have had troubles growing one or both of these plants, so if you have succeeded, what techniques are you using? The Mimosa grows in a large pot along with a couple Aristolochias, and the Desmodium both in a small pot, all in regular potting soil, and kept damp to very moist. They grow in my mini greenhouse at around 75-90 F, and under 4 foot T8 shoplights.
~hcarlton
 
Nice plants.

But are you sure about your mimosa? The mimosa pudica i have here do not have leaves like that.

You can see my plants here: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?131272-Mimosa-pudica
 
They look the same to me, not sure what you're seeing..... same form of dense leaflets and branching leaves, small spines along the stems.... and the seeds this guy came from were labeled as M. pudica "Sensitive Plant" and they do move when touched......
If you are referring to the leaves in the background of most pictures, these guys do live in with Aristolochias, a Hoya, parsley, Passion flowers, orange tree seedlings....
 
The leaves on your second picture, vs the leaves on my first picture.
You have 10 'under leaves', 5 each side. Less on my plants.

Maybe its not the same specie
 
The leaves on your second picture, vs the leaves on my first picture.
You have 10 'under leaves', 5 each side. Less on my plants.

Maybe its not the same specie

That might be it. I know there are two species of Mimosa that are capable of movement. There may be more.

And buddy, don't you even have any Venus flytraps? :p
 
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I'm just going by the label on the seed pack, as well as every other mimosa I've ever seen for sale. Could be that yours may be a mutant, or a mix-up, all plants of M. pudica that I've seen labeled as such have at least that number of branches per leaf, if not more. Could also be that everyone around here has the wrong species label on the plants.???
And yes, I have Dionaea, but they already have a forum section to their own, and are carnivorous. This thread is meant for plants that don't eat bugs, and still move.
 
Maybe my mimosa are some mutants, its not impossible lol
I buy that plant at a local gardening center 4 years ago, so everything can happen from there !

hcarlton wrote "And yes, I have Dionaea, but they already have a forum section to their own, and are carnivorous. This thread is meant for plants that don't eat bugs, and still move."

-Why do you say that? lol

I know about the vfts section, im taking it over all the time :p
 
I have some D. gyrans about a month old now, its fun to watch them move.
 
  • #10
Well, after a bit of research, it looks like the only other Mimosa species that moves is Mimosa nuttallii, the catclaw brier. It doesn't look like either of your plants, but that's just me.
 
  • #11
Weirdos..

Maybe its just a ssp.

On google when i search mimosa pudica, the 400 first pictures look like my leaves lol
Anyway, its not so important ! At least we have a mimosa. If i get seed of my plants, do you want some ?
 
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  • #13
Well, the description still matches mine as well.... 10-26 leaflets per lamina, bipinnate. I know mine started out with fewer leaflets, only 2-6, when it was young, but as it's grown it's gone up to about 12 now (and as it seems a lot of people can't seem to keep these guys alive, many pics may be of juvenile plants). However, with any species there is expected to be variation, some naturally with more leaflets, some less, etc. We may just have different varieties.
Enough of the debate, though, let's see some pictures of your guy's plants! :D
 
  • #14
There no debate, both of us grow a mimosa :)
Again, i have plenty of seeds if you want to try my specie, i can ship you some for free.

Of course, if you have some seeds of your mimosa specie, im interested :)
 
  • #15
When I was in Costa Rica, I had a local point out a tree to me that actually walked with its roots. It didn't move fast enough to see like the plants you guys are discussing, but the whole tree would move and follow the water. IF I get a chance I will try to find out what it was called.
 
  • #16
Was it a Banyan tree?
 
  • #17
....or maybe an Ent? :-O
 
  • #18
My plant isn't anywhere near big enough to make seeds yet, and I have no room for any more.... :D
On the other hand, I seriously need to repot my Desmodium, they're not looking too hot anymore....
 
  • #19
When I was in Costa Rica, I had a local point out a tree to me that actually walked with its roots. It didn't move fast enough to see like the plants you guys are discussing, but the whole tree would move and follow the water. IF I get a chance I will try to find out what it was called.

Wow, thats pretty outstanding!
 
  • #20
Wow, never knew about Desmodium gyrans. Just ordered some seeds, can't wait to give this a try, thanks for posting!
 
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