Changes

'''Lajjika''' is an annual to perennial, more or less prostrate creeping plant. The plant can grow up to 1 metre tall, but is more likely to be 15 - 45cm tall, the stems usually becoming woody. The plant is gathered from the wild for local medicinal use. It is cultivated as a green manure and for soil stabilization, and is sometimes also cultivated for its uses in folk medicine. Probably arose in the Neotropics, but now Pantropical. 

Chemical analysis has shown that Mimosa pudica contains various compounds, including "alkaloids, flavonoid C-glycosides, sterols, terenoids, tannins, saponin and fatty acids". The roots of the plant have been shown to contain up to 10% tanninetc. A substance similar to adrenaline has been found within the plant's leaves.<ref name="chemical composition"/> 

{{Common names|kn=naachike Naachike gida, naachike Naachike mullu, ganda kaali, hadergitte, lajja, lajjaavathi|ml=thendarmaniThendarmani, thotavadi, tindarmaniThotavadi|sa=ajalikalika, alambusa, anjalikaraka, khadiraka, khadirpatrika, namaskari, prasarini, raktamulaAjalikalika, shamipatraAlambusa|ta=alavananki, cuntiyilai, thottal shurungiAlavananki|te=atthapatthi, lajjavanthiAtthapatthi, manugumaramu, mudatha damara, munuguda, muttavapulagamu-chettu, nidrakantiLajjavanthi|hi=chui Chui mui, lajalu, lajawanti, lajjavanti, lajjavatiLajalu|en=Sensitive plant}}

{{Leaf|Bipinnate|alternateAlternate|Borne on stalks (i.e. petioles) 15-60 mm long. They consist of one or two pairs of branchlets (i.e. pinnae) that often have a covering of stiff, prickly, bristles. Each of these branchlets (2.5-8 cm long) bears 10-25 pairs of small dark green leaflets. The leaflets are elongated or oblong in shape (6-15 mm long and 1-3 mm wide) with entire margins. Both surfaces of the leaflets are sparsely hairy (i.e. puberulent) and their margins are lined with tiny bristly hairs. The leaves are very sensitive and fold up when touched (they also fold up at night).}}<ref name="Leaf"/>

{{Flower|Bisexual|axillaryAxillary|Pink|4|The pink or purplish coloured flowers are arranged in small, fluffy, globular or egg-shaped (i.e. ovoid) clusters (9-15 mm across). These clusters are borne on bristly stalks (i.e. peduncles) 1-4 cm long in the forks (i.e. axils) of the upper leaves. Individual flowers have four tiny pink petals (about 2 mm long) and four minute sepals. However, the four pink stamens (8-20 mm long) are the most prominent part of the flowers and give them a fluffy appearance}}

{{Fruit|A Pod||10-25 mm long and 3-6 mm wide|The oblong and flattened seed pods are borne in clusters at the ends of the flowering stalks. These pods each contain 1-6 seeds and their edges are covered in stiff, almost prickly, bristles. They are initially green in colour, but turn brown when mature and eventually break apart into one-seeded segments|The seeds (2.5-3 mm long) are light brown in colour, somewhat flattened, and have a finely textured surface.}}

Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing to speed up germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing.<ref name="Cultivation details"/>