Mimosa, in astronomy
Mimosa or Beta Crucis (bā`tə kr
`sĭs), bright star in the constellation Crux Crux [Lat.,=cross], small but brilliant southern constellation whose four most prominent members form a Latin cross, the famous Southern Cross. The long arm of the cross, terminating in the brightest member, Acrux (Alpha Crucis), points almost directly at the south..... Click the link for more information. (Southern Cross); 1992 position R.A. 12h47.3m, Dec. −59°39'. It is sometimes called Becrux, from its Bayer name, analogous to Acrux (Alpha Crucis) and Gacrux (Gamma Crucis). A bluish-white giant of spectral class spectral class, in astronomy, a classification of the stars by their spectrum and luminosity. In 1885, E. C. Pickering began the first extensive attempt to classify the stars spectroscopically.
..... Click the link for more information. B0 III, its apparent magnitude magnitude, in astronomy, measure of the brightness of a star or other celestial object. The stars cataloged by Ptolemy (2d cent. A.D.), all visible with the unaided eye, were ranked on a brightness scale such that the brightest stars were of 1st magnitude and the
..... Click the link for more information. of 1.28 makes it one of the 20 brightest stars in the sky. Mimosa's distance is c.500 light-years.
mimosa, in botany
mimosa (mĭmō`sə), any tree, shrub, or herb of the genus Mimosa of the family Leguminosae (pulse pulse, in botany, common name for members of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae), a large plant family, called also the pea, or legume, family. Numbering about 650 genera and 17,000 species, the family is third largest, after the asters and the orchids...... Click the link for more information. family), chiefly tropical plants. They usually have feathery foliage and rounded clusters of fragrant pinkish flowers atop the branches. Mimosas are used for ornamental purposes in warm regions. The yellow-flowered plants sold as mimosa by florists are usually of the related genus Acacia (see acacia acacia , any plant of the large leguminous genus Acacia, often thorny shrubs and trees of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). Chiefly of the tropics and subtropics, they are cultivated for decorative and economic purposes.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Most widely known of the mimosas is the sensitive plant (M. pudica), considered a weed in the American tropics but cultivated as a greenhouse annual elsewhere because its leaves fold up and collapse under stimulus (e.g., touch, darkness, or drought) until the whole plant may assume temporarily a thoroughly wilted appearance. It is now naturalized in many warm regions and grows wild in the Gulf states. The name sensitive plant is also applied to other plants of this family that show similar movements. Mimosa is classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta , division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem).
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Leguminosae.
mimosa
Any member of the more than 450 species that make up the genus Mimosa in the family Mimosaceae, native to tropical and subtropical areas throughout both hemispheres. Most are herbaceous plants or undershrubs; some are woody climbers; a few are small trees. They are often prickly. Mimosas are widely cultivated for the beauty of their foliage and for their interesting response to light and mechanical stimuli: the leaves of some species droop in response to darkness and close up their leaflets when touched. The name comes from this “mimicking” of animal sensibility. The roots of some species are poisonous; others contain skin irritants. Many acacias are commonly but incorrectly called mimosas. See also sensitive plant.
mimosa
Mimosa [mə′mō·sə]
Mimosa
a genus of plants of the family Mimosaceae. They include perennial grasses, shrubs (at times twining), and trees. The plants often have spines that are modified sepals. The leaves are bipinnate, and the small flowers are in capitate or spicate inflorescences. The fruit is a scarious or leathery pod, which usually separates into segments upon ripening. There are between 450 and 500 species, distributed primarily in tropical and subtropical America; a few species are found in Africa and Asia. The leaves of some species are sensitive. This sensitivity is particularly pronounced in the sensitive mimosa (Mimosa pudicd), a shrub or subshrub widespread in the tropics of both hemispheres. When touched or with the approach of darkness, the leaflets fold together in pairs, and then the entire leaf droops. At times, species of the genus Acacia that grow on the Black Sea shore of the Caucasus are called mimosas (for example, Acacia dealbatd).
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