Sensitive plant
Mimosa pudica
Also called Touch-me-not, Shameplant and Humble plant
Houseplant · Patterned foliageEvery time it folds it spends energy, so a plant that gets poked all day exhausts itself and goes bare. It is also short-lived by nature — a year or two — and the honest way to keep one is to let it set seed.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Medium
- Water
- Every 3 daysKeep it moist — water at the first hint of dryness — don't wait for a dry pot.
- Light
- Bright, with direct sun for part of the day
- Feed
- Every 21 days
- Humidity
- High
- Hardiness
- Indoors, or out in high summer RHS H1B, to 10°C
- Size
- 0.4 m tall · 0.4 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Central and South America
Is it safe for pets and people?
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
The ASPCA catalogue does not name Mimosa pudica in either section, and the genus was checked too. That is an absence and not a clean bill. The plant carries small prickles on its stems, which is a handling matter rather than a toxicity one.
Checked against ASPCA on 2026-09-22. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Leaves that fold more slowly each time, and stay shut for an hour instead of a few minutes. Every fold costs it energy, and a plant that is shown off all day stops opening properly.Exhausted by handling · disorder
- Fine webbing strung between the four arms of a leaf, and the leaflets stay half-closed with a dry grey stipple on them.Spider mite · pest