Species
+

Mimosa strigillosa Torr. & A.Gray

herbaceous mimosa, powder puff, powder puff mimosa, powderpuff

Climate known 45 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Mimosa strigillosa, also known as sunshine mimosa and powderpuff, is a perennial ground cover in the family Fabaceae that is native to nearly all US states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and grows north into Georgia and Arkansas as well. The name powderpuff refers to the small spherical flowers that rise above the plant's creeping vines. Like related species in the genus Mimosa, sunshine mimosa has sensitive leaves that can fold in a matter of seconds after being disturbed.

Text from Wikipedia, “Mimosa strigillosa”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Mimosa

Mimosa is a genus of about 600 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. Species are native to the Americas, from North Dakota to northern Argentina, and to eastern Africa as well as the Indian subcontinent and Indochina. The generic name is derived from the Greek word μῖμος (mimos), 'actor' or 'mime', and the feminine suffix -osa, 'resembling', suggesting its 'sensitive leaves' which seem to 'mimic conscious life'.

Text from Wikipedia, “Mimosa”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Fabaceae
Described by
Torr. & A.Gray
Native to
Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama +12
Wild records
1681 in range· 310 open

At a glance

Warmest month
32°C
Jul, mean day; nights 24 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1259mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jun 165 mm (CHELSA)
Light
18–40DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, March and May to October in the northern hemisphere (March and May to October at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1259 mm a year, wettest June at 165 mm, driest December at 68 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 40 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 0.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Mimosa dolichocephala Harms; Mimosa dolichocephala Harms ex Kuntze; Mimosa dolichocephala var. sabulicola (Chodat & Hassl.) Hassl.; Mimosa sabulicola Chodat & Hassl.; Mimosa strigillosa Micheli.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, March and May to October in the northern hemisphere (March and May to October at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (899 mm of 1259 mm) falls in March and May to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 24.6 °C against a yearly mean of 21.1 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: November to April and September.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1259 mm a year, wettest June at 165 mm, driest December at 68 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1259 mm a year at the habitat, 899 mm of it March and May to October. Wettest month June at 165 mm, driest December at 68 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 842 mm to 1553 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 40 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 40 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 43).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 0.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 0.9 °C, the absolute minimum -8.8 °C, about 3 frost nights a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 36.0 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 10.0 °C in January (across the envelope cells 4.3 °C to 16.3 °C), warmest day 31.8 °C in July (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 0.9 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 63% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 18 °C in Jan to 32 °C in Jul; mean night from 10 °C in Jan to 24 °C in Aug. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1259 mm of rain a year, most in Jun. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 940 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -8.8 °C and the 99th-percentile day 36.0 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost36.0° 99th-percentile day (undated)-8.8° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 18–40RH 58–63 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 940 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C18 / 14–2320 / 16–2423 / 20–2626 / 23–2829 / 27–3131 / 29–3232 / 29–3432 / 30–3530 / 29–3127 / 25–2823 / 20–2619 / 15–23
Night °C10 / 4–1611 / 6–1714 / 10–1816 / 14–2020 / 18–2323 / 22–2524 / 23–2624 / 23–2623 / 21–2519 / 15–2315 / 10–2011 / 6–18
Rain mm69 / 43–13177 / 49–13695 / 60–13373 / 55–12193 / 61–134165 / 73–217142 / 57–207149 / 51–220144 / 77–210111 / 74–14173 / 48–12568 / 42–143
DLI20 / 18–2425 / 22–2832 / 29–3438 / 35–4140 / 37–4239 / 38–4240 / 37–4337 / 34–4132 / 30–3427 / 26–2922 / 19–2518 / 16–22
RH %58 / 58–6058 / 57–6158 / 57–6158 / 56–6160 / 57–6362 / 59–6462 / 58–6463 / 56–6561 / 56–6459 / 56–6159 / 57–6059 / 58–60

Each figure is the median across the 940 grid cells holding the 1584 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1219:1690 (29.025, -95.475). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -8.8 °C, 1st-percentile night 0.9 °C, 99th-percentile day 36.0 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 940 distinct grid cells holding the 1584 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1219:1690 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 29.00_-95.625, lapse-corrected -7 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 3 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeOklahoma, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Brazil West-Central, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Paraguay, Uruguay· introduced: Illinois
Kew's description“subshrub” · “subtropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker27.518, -82.665 · in the densest population, 939 records (56% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1681 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 310 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 1356 km away. 10 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 97 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1681 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Mimosa strigillosaMimosa strigillosaMimosa strigillosaMimosa strigillosaMimosa strigillosaMimosa strigillosaMimosa strigillosaMimosa strigillosa

Photographs: no rights reserved · CC0; (c) Sam Kieschnick, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Michele Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Ben Machado, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Mimosa strigillosa, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

PHYLOGENETIC IMPLICATIONS OF INFLORESCENCE AND FLORAL ONTOGENY OF MIMOSA STRIGILLOSA
José I. Ramírez‐Domenech, Shirley C. Tucker (1989) · American Journal of Botany
Responses of herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), a new reclamation species, to cyclic moisture stress
Mingteh Chang, Christopher M. Crowley, Ahmad Nuruddin (1995) · Resources Conservation and Recycling
Responses of herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), a new reclamation species, to soil pH
Ahmad Nuruddin, Mingteh Chang (1999) · Resources Conservation and Recycling
BRUCHIDAE ASSOCIATED WITH MIMOSA WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES
L. J. Bottimer (1969) · The Canadian Entomologist
Evapotranspiration of herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), a new drought-resistant species in the southeastern United States
Mingteh Chang, Ahamd A Nuruddin, Chris M Crowley, Malcolm D MacPeak (1997) · Resources Conservation and Recycling
Phylogenetic Implications of Inflorescence and Floral Ontogeny of Mimosa strigillosa
José I. Ramírez‐Domenech, Shirley C. Tucker (1989) · American Journal of Botany
Application of TensorFlow model for identification of herbaceous mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa) from digital images
Tri Setiyono, Thanos Gentimis, Fagner Rontani, Dulis Duron (2024) · Smart Agricultural Technology
Herbaceous mimosa persistence in grazed pasture
M. W. Alison, W. D. Pitman, Kun‐Jun Han, R Alan Shadow (2022) · Native Plants Journal

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Mimosa 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 48 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.