Cousin (ThursdayTreeLove)

These cute pink ball like flowers can be quite misleading. They look like Touch Me Not flowers but the leaves do not respond to touch. Further, this is a shrubby plant whereas the Touch Me Not is mostly a ground hugging herb.

Hooked prickles visible

With no further suspense, let me share that this plant is Mimosa hamata – a ‘cousin’ of the famous Touch Me Not. Both belong to the Mimosaceae family and to the Mimosa genus. It is common on the hills of Pune and the pretty flowers demand attention from afar. They are not fragrant and the plant has hooked prickles which means one has to be careful when trying to take photographs!

Mimosa hamata is commonly seen on Vetal Tekdi

We meet several such plant cousins. The Jasmines are all ‘related’ if I may say so.. They belong to the same Genus. Which other cousins have you met?

🙂

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

10 Replies to “Cousin (ThursdayTreeLove)”

  1. Where I lived many years ago in Kansas we had what we called mimosa trees. I believe they are part of the family you picture – I don’t remember prickles and the pink flowers were a bit more oblong. They were actual trees. I liked your plants, even if you do have to be careful around them.

  2. I like the cousins of trees:) its interesting to here that jasmines have a family, so also am sure there are many plants who are related:) the colors are beautiful of mimosa hamata – I learn so much from you, as you take effort in giving so much in formation on trees. Thanks for sharing:)

  3. Archana, this is interesting cos the cousin I see frequently blooms like this and the leaves are that of the touch-me-not 🙂 So tata-mimosa 🙂 I may have a picture too. Will dig it up!
    I love the touch-me-not. It’s a plant that I have the fondest memory of and we had it at home. Thanks for sharing! See you tomorrow.

  4. We have similar mimosas here in the US, but they have no prickles and the pink and white flowers are delicately fragrant. Some people call them umbrella trees. So many lovely trees and bushes!

  5. Oh my! I got totally fooled by those first 2 pics. 😁
    I was sure they were touch-me-nots. Oh! I miss playing with them. 🙂

    That’s interesting. Nice to learn about this cousin. 🙂

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