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Mimosa emoryana (Emory's mimosa)
Anderson, Wynn

Mimosa emoryana

Mimosa emoryana Benth.

Emory's Mimosa

Fabaceae (Pea family)

Synonym(s):

USDA Symbol: MIEM

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

"Stiffly branched microphyllous shrubs attaining 12 dm, armed below almost every node with one infrapetiolar and sometimes in addition 1- 2 infrastipular, broad-based recurved, at first brown-tipped but later blanched aculei (2-) 3-9 mm, the infrapetiolar one often so far displaced as to appear opposed to the antecedent Ieaf, the young branches, leaves and flowers silky-pubemlent or subvelutinous throughout, the globose or ellipsoid capitula arising either directly from the axil of coeval leaves on longshoots or from small brachyblasts on older wood." (bibref: 1811).

"Emory mimosa is locally plentiful on rocky limestone and igneous sites in the Trans-Pecos deserts of South Brewster and Presidio Counties, from 2700 to 4500 feet, and into Mexico. It is a low shrub with slender, somewhat grooved twigs bearing prickles, bipinnate softly pubescent grey-green leaves, and flowers in small, pink heads. Emory mimosa is especially recognizable by the very tiny reddish brown pods which may or may not have yellow prickles." (webref: 1).

 

From the Image Gallery

12 photo(s) available in the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Bipinnate
Fruit Type: Legume
Size Notes: 3.5 feet in height; 2 feet in width. (webref: 1).
Leaf: "Stipules subulate or linear-attenuate 1-3.5 mm, weakly 1-nerved or extemally nerveless; leaf-formula i-iv(-v)/3-6 (-7), the leaf stalks 2-40 mm, the ventral sulcus obscure or continuous (spicules 0); rachis of longer pinnae 2-12 mm; leaflets oblong or elliptic-oblong, obtuse or subacute, the longer ones (2.5-) 3-5.5 X 1-2 mm, 2.1-2.8 times as long as wide, all extemally veinless or faintly 2-nerved dorsally, the midrib subcentric." (bibref: 1811). "Leaves gray-villosulous; valves of legume with both dense puberulence and stiff, setiform bristles 1-2 mm long". (reslit: 2886).
Flower: "Peduncles 6-24 mm; capitula without filaments 6-10 X 5.5-7 mm, prior to anthesis moriform, the pyriform flower buds silky-puberulent, the receptacle 1-8 mm long; flowers 5-merous 10-androus, all bisexual, puberulent overall; calyx membranous, campanulate or turbinate-campanulate (0.6-) 0.8-1.4 mm, the depressed-deltate teeth 0.1-0.3 mm; corolla vase-shaped 3-3.9 mm, the triangular-acuminate, slightly flaring lobes 1-1.4 mm; filaments pink, monadelphous through 0.1-0.3 mm, exserted 4.5-5.5 mm; ovary puberulent-tomentulose." (bibref: 1811).
Fruit: Legumes "tiny reddish brown pods which may or may not have yellow prickles... 30 to 35 mm. long by 4 to 6 mm wide". (webref: 1). "Pods 1-7 per capitulum, sessile or almost so, in profile linear 20-50 x 5-6.5 mm, arched downward or somewhat twisted, 3-6 (-7)-seeded, the scarcely constricted replum and papery valves alike densely pubeullent overall with short erect hairs and the valves always, the replum commonly, hispid with erect glabrous or scaberulous setae to 1-2.5 mm, the valves bullately distended over each seed, breaking up into free-falling, individually dehiscent articles 5-9 mm long" (bibref: 1811).

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: Pink
Bloom Time: Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep

Distribution

USA: TX
Native Distribution: "Western Texas along the Rio Grande and adjacent Mexico." (reslit: 2886). "Locally plentiful along and near the Rio Grande in Trans-Pecos Texas (Isely, 1973, map 30) and south through the Chihuahuan Desert to the sink of Rio Nazas in northeastern Durango." (bibref: 1811).
Native Habitat: "Desert scrub, grassland, hills, rocky calcareous or igneous soil." (reslit: 2886). "On dry stony hills and along washes, in desert thom-scrub, on limestone and volcanic substrates, ±700-1350 m." (bibref: 1811).

Web Reference

Webref 1 - Texas Native Shrubs (2002) Texas A&M University Agriculture Program and Leslie Finical, Dallas Arboretum

Research Literature

Reslit 2886 - Legumes of the United States. IV. Mimosa (1971) Duane Isely

This information was provided by the Florida WIldflower Foundation.
Search More Titles in Research Literature

Additional resources

USDA: Find Mimosa emoryana in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Mimosa emoryana in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Mimosa emoryana

Metadata

Record Modified: 2022-10-18
Research By: Joseph A. Marcus

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