Texas Gardening: Texas Native Plant Pictures ( Shrubs ), 1 by htop

htop wrote:
Sunshine Mimosa, Powderpuff, Sensitive Plant, Verguenza, Herbaceous Mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa); Mimosaceae Family; Texas native; perennial; listed as a subshrub, shrub, forb/herb, but is not tall and is more of a groundcover; blooms in early spring through fall

Distribution in Texas: http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/cgi/vpt_map_name?reg=1,2,3,4,...

Usually growing 3 to 4 inches tall, this native plant is a legume that fixes nitrogen in addition to functioning as a fast growing, mat-forming, evergreen groundcover and can even be substituted for lawn grass. It is found in many counties along the Texas Gulf Coast. Although most specimens do not have prickles there are variations between the members in the upper Gulf Coast region and members in the Rio Grande valley. Specimens collected in the valley frequently have woody stem bases and have a few prickles.

It serves as a larval food source for the Little Sulphur, White-striped Longtail Skipper, Mimosa Yellow and Reakirt's Blue butterfly caterpillars. The foliage is browsed by white-tailed deer and cattle.

For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1873/index.html

The bristles along the stems are not prickly to the touch. A view of the flower buds ...

This message was edited Jul 27, 2005 7:36 AM