Touch Me Nots Are Like Whoa

My sister took a recent vacay to Vietnam, and told me about this really neat plant she encountered somewhere on the central coast there. It was a small fern-like leaf that curled up whenever you touched it.

You just *touch* and it instantly *curls*…like it’s shying away from you. It’s almost like the human equivalent of blushing. It’s so cute!

This sounded really familiar to me, and I recalled that I’d seen these same plants when I was in the Cambodian countryside.

These plants are super fascinating!

You might remember when my friend Maja and I explored the salt flats and pepper fields of Kampot, Cambodia back in 2010.

We were with Tony, an ex-pat from Detroit. The three of us were riding around the countryside on motorbikes — Tony on one, Maja and I on another — when we pulled over at a pepper field to poke around and see if any local farmers would sell us some of their fresh pepper.

We all wandered in different directions, surrounded by nothing more than lush greens and orange dirt roads for miles; blue skies and sunshine. There was only the occasional passerby. It was really peaceful out there.

My memories of the Cambodian countryside always fill my heart and water my eyes a bit. A really warm smile is making its way across my face as I write this right now and recall how I felt when I was there. *Sigh*

Anyway. So…motorbikes parked on the side of the dirt road, the three of us wandering around by foot…when Tony beckoned me over to show me something.

“Thy, come here, check this out.” Tony was crouched in an Asian squat, hovering over what looked like ordinary grass and brush. I squatted down next to him and stared blankly at this unassuming patch of greenery.

Ohhhhh-kaaaay? I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be looking at.

And then……waaaaait for it……

Tony performed a magic trick.

He gently, just barely, tapped his fingertip on a small leaf. And the leaf instantly curled up into itself.

Of course, this wasn’t a magic trick at all. This little green thing growing out of the ground actually felt his touch, and it physically reacted.

Mind.
BLOWN.

What are these? I marveled at these strange plants and watched them shrink before my eyes with every touch. I poked slowly, curiously, at first. But then I got all excited, like a crazed, sugar-high kid playing Whac-A-Mole at the arcade.

Bam. *Squeal!*
Bam. *Giggle!*
It was so neat!

I slowed down again so I could take this quick video (it’s blurry, sorry):

I was like…WHOA. But then I was like…SHIT. Am I killing them? Are they dying?!

Turns out, this reaction is simply a defense mechanism. I wasn’t killing them. In a few minutes, they would open back up as if nothing happened, and their adorable little plant lives would carry on as usual.

These fascinating plants are called Mimosa Pudisas, but they’re also known as Touch Me Nots and Sensitive Plants.

My parents tell me that growing up in Vietnam, they called them Cây Mắc Cở which translates roughly to Shy Plants.

Cool, right?!