The chemistry of leaf-movement in Mimosa pudica L.

Two well-known movements are observed in Mimosa pudica L. (Ojigi-so in Japanese): one is the very rapid movement of the leaves when it is stimulated by touch, heating, etc., and the other is the very slow, periodical movement of the leaves called nyctinastic movement which is controlled by a biological clock. We have isolated chemical substances controlling these two leaf- movements. These movements were regulated by the different chemical substances. We have succeeded in the identification of the chemical substances related to the two different kinds of mimosa leaf-movement, which have been discussed for over 80 years.