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Mimosa tenuiflora; photograph (c) stephen, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) stephen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-01-25

Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poir.

Fabaceae · Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest +9

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Mimosa tenuiflora, photograph (c) cristianol1456, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Mimosa tenuiflora, photograph (c) cristianol1456, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Mimosa tenuiflora, photograph (c) Thomaz de Carvalho Callado, some rights reserved (CC BY)Mimosa tenuiflora, photograph (c) Thomaz de Carvalho Callado, some rights reserved (CC BY)Mimosa tenuiflora, photograph (c) Thomaz de Carvalho Callado, some rights reserved (CC BY)Mimosa tenuiflora, photograph (c) Anilton Junior, some rights reserved (CC BY) 53 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
17.2°C
Record low 15.5 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
32°C
Nov and Dec at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
881mm
7 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
31–43DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A sharp rainy season, February to June (the habitat's months, not shifted), in a year of even temperature. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Mimosa tenuiflora, syn. Mimosa hostilis, also known as jurema preta, calumbi (Brazil), tepezcohuite (México), carbonal, cabrera, jurema, black jurema, and binho de jurema, is a perennial tree or shrub native to the northeastern region of Brazil (Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Pernambuco, Bahia) and found as far north as southern Mexico (Oaxaca and coast of Chiapas), and the following countries: El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. It is most often found in lower altitudes, but it can be found as high as 1,000 m (3,300 ft).

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Mimosa tenuiflora", CC BY-SA 4.0.

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'.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Mimosa", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the median year's rain (470 mm of 652 mm) falls in February to June. The temperature curve is flat, 1.4 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere. The habitat lies within 10° of the equator, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

652 mm in the median year at the habitat, 470 mm of it February to June. Wettest month March at 132 mm, driest month September at 11 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 589 mm to 1,364 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 881 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 652 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 31 to 43 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 26, the highest 90th-percentile month 45).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 17.2 °C, the absolute minimum 15.5 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 36.3 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 21.2 °C in August (across the grid cells of the range 18.2 °C to 24.0 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 31.5 °C in November and December (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 17.2 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 57 to 62% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: 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 moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

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

Light. 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.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -11 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Mimosa tenuiflora through the yearWarmest months November and December, mean daily high 32 °C; coldest month August, mean nightly low 21.2 °C; 652 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°36.3° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER15.5° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 31–43RH 57–62%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 157 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C31 / 25–3431 / 27–3431 / 28–3331 / 29–3331 / 29–3330 / 27–3230 / 26–3330 / 26–3431 / 27–3531 / 26–3632 / 26–3632 / 25–35
Night °C22 / 16–2422 / 16–2422 / 17–2422 / 19–2423 / 20–2422 / 19–2421 / 18–2421 / 18–2422 / 19–2422 / 19–2422 / 18–2422 / 17–24
Rain mm53 / 3–12373 / 5–136132 / 6–224114 / 11–19979 / 47–15072 / 30–24346 / 14–21224 / 5–22211 / 2–24113 / 2–13614 / 3–4521 / 5–63
DLI37 / 30–4038 / 34–4038 / 35–4234 / 33–4433 / 29–4231 / 26–3733 / 27–4036 / 31–3939 / 32–4343 / 30–4542 / 29–4440 / 28–42
RH %58 / 54–6359 / 55–6360 / 55–6560 / 55–6560 / 57–6562 / 55–6760 / 54–6760 / 52–6759 / 51–6858 / 50–6757 / 50–6557 / 52–64

Records on both sides of the equator: the 22 cells at least 10° south of it have seasons six months apart and are left out, not combined into a year no place has. These figures are across the 157 cells that remain: the 58 at least 10° north and the 99 within 10° of the equator, which stay in either way.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 157 grid cells holding the 223 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1945:2889 (-7.275, -35.525). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 15.5 °C, 1st-percentile night 17.2 °C, 99th-percentile day 36.3 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 157 distinct grid cells holding 223 of the 248 in-range records on the northern side of the equator (58 cells poleward of 10° north, 22 poleward of 10° south: the two sides' seasons are not combined, and cells within 10° of the equator stay in); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1945:2889 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -7.50_-35.625, lapse-corrected -11 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 282 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 the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast · introduced: Jawa, Malaya, Sumatera, New Guinea · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-6.814, -38.478 · in the densest population, 687 records (56% of those in range)
Kew's description“scrambling shrub or tree” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1233 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 223 of them in the land cells it reads, of 248 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 1080 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 2 km away. 10 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 985 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 1233 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Mimosa tenuiflora, photograph 1did not loadMimosa tenuiflora, photograph 2did not loadMimosa tenuiflora, photograph 3did not loadMimosa tenuiflora, photograph 4did not loadMimosa tenuiflora, photograph 5did not loadMimosa tenuiflora, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) cristianol1456, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2); (c) Thomaz de Carvalho Callado, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Anilton Junior, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Jatropha mollissima Jatropha mollissima Euphorbiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, cristianol1456Herissantia tiubae Herissantia tiubae Malvaceae Photo: CC BY, Macelo CostaIpomoea bahiensis Ipomoea bahiensis Convolvulaceae Photo: CC BY, Paulo NogueiraEnterolobium timbouva Enterolobium timbouva Elephant-ear tree Photo: CC BY, Paulo NogueiraAllamanda blanchetii Allamanda blanchetii Purple allamanda Photo: CC BY, ni_kiCenostigma nordestinum Cenostigma nordestinum Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, stephen

Other Mimosa 27 in the reference

Mimosa aculeaticarpa Mimosa aculeaticarpa Catclaw mimosa Photo: CC BY, Aarón Misael Carpio DávilaMimosa albida Mimosa albida White mimosa Photo: CC0, author not statedMimosa benthamii Mimosa benthamii Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, José Javier Barrios FloresMimosa bimucronata Mimosa bimucronata Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, angryphycoMimosa biuncifera Mimosa biuncifera Catclaw Mimosa Photo: CC BY, Jo RobertsMimosa borealis Mimosa borealis Fragrant mimosa Photo: CC BY, RachelMimosa caesalpiniifolia Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Paulo NogueiraMimosa candollei Mimosa candollei Fourvalve mimosa Photo: CC BY, Alexis López HernándezMimosa diplotricha Mimosa diplotricha Giant sensitive plant Photo: CC BY, 祐Mimosa distachya Mimosa distachya Mexican mimosa Photo: CC BY, Abraham Sánchez RomeroMimosa dysocarpa Mimosa dysocarpa Velvetpod mimosa Photo: CC BY, John ThomlinsonMimosa farinosa Mimosa farinosa Fabaceae Photo: CC0, Hugo Hulsberg all 28 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Acacia hostilis; Acacia jurema; Acacia tenuiflora; Mimosa apodocarpa var. hostilis; Mimosa cabrera and 4 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Fabaceae
Described by
(Willd.) Poir.
Native to
Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast +8
Wild records
1233 in range · 1080 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 6 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (6 at a herbarium; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -7.50_-35.625, lapse-corrected -11 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 96 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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