Lojjaboti or Touch me not, Mimosa pudica

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Lojjaboti or Touch me not (Mimosa pudica, family: Fabaceae) is a annual or perennial woody and creeping herb. The prickly herb is native to South America. Nowadays it is found throughout the tropical world as well as South and Southeast Asia. 


Common names: Lojjaboti, Touch me not, Sensitive plant, Sleepy plant, Shy plant.


Leaves are very sensitive─a slight touch instantly causes them to unfurl and shrink. The Bangla name (Lojjaboti) has been derived from this special attribute.


Leaves are pinnately compound, pinnae 2 pairs, blade 8 pairs, linear, opposite, looking like feather.


Flowers are small, pinkish in color, clustered as head.

The plant is used to prepare medicine for dysentery, piles, constipation, snake poison, arthritis and toothache. It helps to stop abnormal blood emission due to abortion.


Friut is a pod, 1-3 cm long. 2-7 prickly pods consists in a cluster. Hard coated seeds are pale brown.


Propagation of the plant is caused by seeds.


Mimosa pudica usually prefers shady area. It grows in fallow land in Bangladesh.

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