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Mimosa strigillosa Raf.
Powderpuff
Sunshine Mimosa
Florida native
An occasional plant mainly of disturbed sites most widespread in the northern and central panhandle, scattered elsewhere throughout the state. The range includes extreme southern Georgia, coastal Texas and Louisiana and up the Mississippi and Red River valleys into Mississippi and Arkansas.
This is a sprawling, diminutive plant that is woody at the base with twice compound leaves. This species lacks spines or prickles. There are 4 to 12 pairs of ovate pinnae, each having up to about 15 pairs of linear leaflets. The inflorescence is terminal on a long stalk and is made up of a globular cluster of tiny flowers. Most distinctive are the long pink filaments with white to yellow anthers, lending the plant its common name powerpuff. Fruit is a compressed achene with valves that split into one-seeded segments.
Mimosa strigillosa is a larval host plant for the little yellow butterfly. Antillean blue butterflies have also been known to feed on and lay eggs on powerpuff.
The species name is derived from the Latin strigillosus, meaning somewhat covered with short appressed hairs.
Mimosa strigillosa is a member of the Fabaceae - Pea family.
Other species of the Mimosa genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Mimosa floridana - FLORIDA SENSITIVE BRIER
Mimosa microphylla - SENSITIVE BRIER
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Apr 24, 2026
