sensitive plant

American  

noun

1. Also called humble plant.  a tropical American plant, Mimosa pudica, cultivated in greenhouses, having bipinnate leaves whose leaflets fold together when touched.

2. any of various other plants that are sensitive to touch.

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sensitive plant British  

noun

1. a tropical American mimosa plant, Mimosa pudica, the leaflets and stems of which fold if touched

2. any similar plant, such as the leguminous plant Cassia nictitans of E North America

3. informal a person who is easily upset

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Etymology

Origin of sensitive plant

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

The fire also swept through parts of the island that have rare habitats for sensitive plant and animal species found nowhere else, such as the endangered San Clemente loggerhead shrike, a carnivorous songbird.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2024

Claude Bernard showed the sensitive plant, Mimosa pudica, succumbed to it as early as 1878.

From Scientific American • Jan. 28, 2018

She is also a sensitive plant, prone to neurotic ramblings and cursed by an inability to remember her lines, or even what she’s just said in real life.

From New York Times • Apr. 13, 2014

They are designed to show you things and help you avoid trampling over sensitive plant and animal habitats.

From Washington Post • May 31, 2013

Abelman certainly wanted a great deal of money; that sensitive plant of an Abelman must have been greatly offended.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole