Scientific Family
Fabaceae
Synonyms
Mimosa biuncifera, Mimosa lindheimeri, Mimosa warnockii
Other common names
wait-a-minute bush
wait-a-bit
Plant type
Shrubs
Riparian
No
Plant Description
Origin
Native
Similar species
Acacia greggii
Usually a short, thicket-forming shrub not more than 3 feet tall but can grow to 8 feet tall. The stems are armed with claw-like, paired thorns. The leaves are twice compound. Numerous flowers occur in rounded clusters.
Shrub or small tree with paired thorns that bend backward at the nodes; twice pinnate leaves; flowers in pink or white head-shaped clusters; fruits pod curved, valves not jointed with prickles on margin.
Height
To 8 feet
Width
4 to 6 feet
Habitat
Habitat description
Gravelly flats, mesas and rocky hillsides in desert grass and shrub, chaparral, pinyon-juniper and pine-oak communities.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
3000
High elevation
6000
Leaves
Leaf color
Light green to yellowish-green
Leaf type
Compound
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaf hairs
None
Spines
Yes
Leaf Drop
Deciduous
Leaves are twice compound with 2 to 10 branches, each branch having 5 to 12 leaflets. Leaves are to 2 inches long; leaflets are about 1/8 inch long.
Flowers
Flower color
White to pink
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
May
Last bloom month
August
The white to pink flowers are clustered in a fluffy ball-like head to 5/8 inch diameter. Flower clusters are found on long flower stalks in the leaf axils.
Flower clusters
Rounded
Fruit
Fruit color
Brown, reddish-brown
Fruit type
Pod
Pods are brown to reddish-brown on upper surface, greenish beneath; to 2 inches long, 1/8 inch wide, with a few marginal prickles and constricted between the seeds. The seeds are reddish-brown, approximately 1/8 inch and ovoid.