Native Plants

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Monday - May 23, 2005

From: Los Fresnsos, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Locations where non-native Mimosa trees grow
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Where do mimos trees grow?

ANSWER:

I think you must thinking of mimosa trees. Mimosa or silktree (Albizia julibrissin) trees are native to Asia and belong to the Family Fabaceae (Pea Family). A similar, but less common species, is the Kalkora mimosa (Albizia kalkora). Both are non-native trees introduced to North America and now can be found growing in the south, southwest and northeast United States. They are considered invasive in Florida, Tennessee, and the Mid-Atlantic. More information about the invasive nature of the mimosa tree can be found at Texas Invasives.org.

Members of the Genus Mimosa (also in the Family Fabaceae) are small, usually low-growing, plants with flowers similar to the mimosa tree. Many species of these are native to North America.