Love even the Obnoxious!

In this country, this weed is considered obnoxious and much hated! People who has encountered this in the farm most probably have experienced its thorns, and they are not just thorns. They are hooks. When they attach on you they will be very difficult to detach, and the thorns attack in unison, because they are very close to each other and very sharp! The resulting wounds are not only sore, they are also itchy! And the scratches stay with you for maybe one week. And if you scratch them, you will have more problems. Are you not scared yet?

The wonder of wonders, it is considered ornamental in some temperate countries, domesticated and cared for as would any other ornamental plant. This is the Mimosa pudica. In Pilipino it is called "makahiya", meaning shy! It came from the plants' habit of folding the leaves when touched, blown or shaken. In Latin,  'pudica' also means shy, bashful or shrinking. ( I would like to correct the Scientific name of this as: Mimosa diplotricha syn. Mimosa invisa)

The flowers are lovely, but look at the hooked thorns bending backwards

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mimosa_Pudica.gif

Above is a video showing movement of leaves responding to stimuli. The orientation of leaf movement is termed nyctinastic, while movement due to stimuli is termed seismonastic. These are the cells response to loss of turgor pressure. If the video doesn't open at once, please click the links to see actual leaf movements. 

The leaf movements are the plant's defense mechanism to escape attacks by predators. Insects might be scared of plants with fast movements like this. But bigger animals like cows and humans are more scared of its thorns.

No big animal can enter an area with these lush growth of Mimosa pudica.

Vegetative growth without flowers yet

It is also a nightmare for the owner of this area, with the difficulties he will encounter in clearing this site for agricultural purposes. And this plant also spreads so fast during the rainy season, which aggravates the problem of the landowner. It is more difficult if it grows on areas already planted with useful crops. Herbicides are not practiced here, so the traditional weeding methods are employed. Its roots have to be fully removed because the roots also rejuvenate well.