Is it a houseplant or a tree?

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rovingray Ewing, VA Aug 05, 2010

I have a sort of puzzling question.

A couple of months ago, I had an “orphaned “ plant that started growing in a flower pot in which I had started several Redbud cuttings. I transplanted this orphan into another flowerpot and it is now two feet tall. I researched the plant on the internet to identify it and came to the conclusion that it is a Sensitive Plant or Mimosa. In my research, I have had confusing results. Some say this can be grown as a houseplant while others say it is grown outdoors as a small tree. My thinking is that since it was growing in the flowerpot filled with bagged seed free soil, which I had out on my front porch, the seed was dropped there by the wind or a bird making it an outdoor plant. So my question is ~~ If it is a houseplant will it grow into a tree inside my house or should I just plant it outside?

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 05, 2010

I think you've gotten confused because there are several very different plants that people will call "mimosa". Plants in the genus Mimosa (sensitive plant, etc) tend to be small. However, there's also a tree Albizia julibrissin which many people call by the common name "mimosa tree". Some trees in the Acacia genus are also known by the common name mimosa, although they would be less likely to have volunteered in your pot.

There are a few Mimosa species that occur naturally in your area--here's a list of them http://plants.usda.gov/java/stateSearch?searchTxt=mimosa&searchType=Sciname&stateSelect=US51&searchOrder=1&imageField.x=60&imageField.y=11 So if it's one of those, it could have easily gotten into your pot. So could Albizia julibrissin which is a rather weedy tree in many areas of the country.

There are also a number of other species in the same family which can look somewhat similar when young so you may not have a mimosa of any sort--I'd suggest taking some pictures of your plant and post them on the ID forum and see if someone knows what it is. Things along these lines can sometimes be hard to ID when young, but someone may recognize it.

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