Fig. 1.

Native Indian Mimosa spp. in the wild. (A) Mimosa hamata is a shrub that grows in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. It grows to approx. 3 m maximum height, and the plant in this photograph is approx. 2 m. (B) Detail of the foliage and flowers of M. hamata; the spiny stems and the spherical pink inflorescences are very typical of the genus Mimosa. (C) Mimosa himalayana has a similar growth habit to M. hamata and it grows to a similar size, but it prefers wetter environments, in which it grows among other lush vegetation. (D) Detail of the foliage and flowers of M. himalayana; note that the stems, foliage and flowers are very similar to the closely related M. hamata. (E) Large branched nodules (arrow) on an M. hamata plant grown in soil taken from the rhizosphere of a plant growing in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. (F) Nodules (*) on an M. himalayana plant grown in soil taken from the rhizosphere of a plant growing in the Bijoliya region of Rajasthan. Scale bars: (E) = 1 cm; (F) = 500 µm.