Prairie Mimosa
Prairie Mimosa
GARDENING | PLANT ID
_________ Texas Native ______
Desmanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words δεσμός (desmos), meaning "bundle", and ἄνθος (anthos), meaning "flower". It contains about 24 species of herbs and shrubs that are sometimes described as being suffruiticose and have bipinnate leaves. Desmanthus is closely related to Leucaena and in appearance is similar to Neptunia. Like Mimosa and Neptunia, Desmanthus species fold their leaves in the evening. They are native to Mexico and North, Central, and South America. Members of the genus are commonly known as bundleflowers. Donkey beans is another common name and originated in Central America, where Desmanthus species are highly regarded as fodder for these domestic draught animals.
Prairie Mimosa, Illinois Bundleflower, Prickleweed, Illinois Desmanthus
Desmanthus illinoensis
Round flower heads 3/8 to ½ inch across, single at the tips of long stalks at the top of the plant and arising from the upper leaf axils. Flower heads are made up of about 50 tiny, greenish white flowers, each with 5 petals (magnification may be needed), a single style, and 5 long white stamens with pale yellow tips. Stalks are angled, smooth to sparsely hairy, green, and ¾ to 2½ inches long.
Ten species of Desmanthus can be found in Texas.
Leaves are alternate, twice compound, 2 to 4 inches long, very feathery with 6 to 14 oblong branches, each up to 1½ inches long and with 20 to 30 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets are about 1/8 inch long, lance-oblong with a fringe of short hairs around the edge. Leaf stalks are finely hairy. Stems are erect, few branched, grooved, and hairless to sparsely hairy.
Seed pods
Fruit is a pea-like pod about ½ inch long, curved, flattened, the pods arranged in a spiral around the head. Pods dry to brown and split along the top seam, releasing 2 to 5 shiny, flattened, reddish-brown seeds.
*Photographs, flower and fruit: July, week 27, zone 7b, Eastern, Cross Timbers and Prairie Ecoregion, Texas.
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