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| I found a Mimosa plant today that had smaller leaves than expected of M. nuttallii, which is the common species in this area. I'm wondering if it could be M. microphylla, but cannot find a key that differentiates the two. Anybody know where there's a good Mimosa key that's available online? If not, can you provide descriptions that will help me determine species? I did not take measurements at the time, but just snapped a few photos for home review. If I compare leaflet length with the primary bends in my fingers, it appears that the leaves are under 0.200 inch long.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Weakley has this key: 1 Plant unarmed ......................................................................
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........... M. strigillosa |
Here is a link that might be useful: Weakley's flora
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| I should point out that Weakley's key covers Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas. You may well have other species not included here. |
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- Posted by treeguy123 AL 7a (My Page) on Sun, Aug 12, 12 at 13:39
| The only Mimosa native to AR are: Mimosa nuttallii Mimosa strigillosa So it should be Mimosa nuttallii, unless escaped seed grew of M. microphylla from MS or TN area eastward but that would be unlikely. The key would confirm what you have. |
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| usda plant database! google for it, should pop right up each entry has range maps so makes it easy to narrow down what is in your area too |
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| Thanks, all, for your comments. The Weakley key is one I often use, but doesn't cover both species of interest. My Arkansas Flora key only suggests 1 Mimosa species (M. nuttallii) as expected, but that key is a bit dated, as is USDA. I'm aware that M. microphylla isn't supposed to be in Arkansas. However, I've found several other species this year that were not expected in this state (pressed for documentation and confirmed with our state botanists), so don't automatically rule plants from the surrounding states out. I also think that I saw plants last year, at multiple locations, that had flowers under 0.75 inch across, and am wondering if M. microphylla is moving westward. In fact, there was one BONAP listing for that species in Louisiana, next to the Texas border. I was hoping that somebody had a key with both species, and even detailed descriptions of both plants. But looking at the BONAP maps, it appears there is no overlap in their territories, so probably no such comparison. I guess the next step is just to collect specimens and send them to Little Rock for species determination. Thanks again. |
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