Botany - A bit of flora.

[jwaltos]

I finally found my favourite little plant which I encountered in Jamaica 15 years ago. During our monthly vacation in the Bahamas this year I found a small enclave of these ferns on someone's lawn. The pink flower is distinctive and I have since found a few more small areas where this little plant has made a home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by jwaltos

I finally found my favourite little plant which I encountered in Jamaica 15 years ago.

Made me think that you were going to mention a different plant that has become many people's favourite after visiting Jamaica mon.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by jwaltos

I finally found my favourite little plant which I encountered in Jamaica 15 years ago. During our monthly vacation in the Bahamas this year I found a small enclave of these ferns on someone's lawn. The pink flower is distinctive and I have since found a few more small areas where this little plant has made a home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica

Ferns are not flowering plants ...

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by jwaltos

I finally found my favourite little plant which I encountered in Jamaica 15 years ago. During our monthly vacation in the Bahamas this year I found a small enclave of these ferns on someone's lawn. The pink flower is distinctive and I have since found a few more small areas where this little plant has made a home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica

Mimosa pudica, AKA "sensitive plant," though not a fern, is fern-like in appearance. Its leaves droop when touched (hence the common name).

The leaves are unusual in another respect. A botanist would describe them as "bipinnate," which means they are composed of a pinnate pattern of leaflets which are themselves pinnately compound. Bipinnate leaves can be quite large -- larger than someone unaquainted with botanical terminology might realize.

In this photo, one of the leaves extends from the stem between the two disks (I can't tell whether they're unopened flowers or seed heads) near the bottom of the picture, all the way to the top of the picture. It has a pinnate pattern of "arms" which are actually "leaflets," and are themselves pinnately compound.