Description

Touch-me-not also called sensitive plant, sleepy plant, action plant, shameplant is a creeping annual or perennial flowering plant of the pea/legume family Fabaceae. It is often grown for its curiosity value: the compound leaves fold inward and droop when touched or shaken, defending themselves from harm, and re-open a few minutes later. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Characteristics:

Touch Me Not is a wonderful and curious plant which is found growing wild throughout the tropical world. It native origin is unclear, but is believed to have originated in tropical America. Its fern-like leaves close up and droop when touched, usually re-opening within minutes. It has prickly stems and small, fluffy, ball shaped pink flowers in summer. It grows to a height of 50 cm with a spread of 30 cm. In some areas this plant is becoming a noxious weed. The stem is erect, slender and branching. The leaves are bipinnate, fern like and pale green- closing when disturbed. Stalked pale pink or purple flower-heads arise from the leaf axils. The round to ovoid heads are 8-10 mm in diameter (excluding the stamens). On close examination, it is seen that the floret petals are red in their upper part and the filaments are pink to lavender. The fruit consists of clusters of 2-8 pods from 1-2 cm long each, these prickly on the margins. The pods break into 2-5 segments and contain pale brown seeds some 2.5 mm long. The flowers are pollinated by the wind and insects. The seeds have hard seed coats which restricts germination.

Medicinal Uses:

According to Ayurveda, the root is bitter, acrid, cooling, vulnerary, alexipharmic. It is used in treatment of biliousness, leprosy, dysentery, vaginal and uterine complaints, inflammations, burning sensation, fatigue, asthma, leucoderma, blood diseases etc. The root is used to control alcoholism. The leaves are bitter, mildly sudorific, tonic. A leaf tincture is given by teetotallers to drunkards to remedy drunkenness.