Mimosa rocae Lorentz & Niederlein

Echeverría, María L., Alonso, Sara I. & Comparatore, Viviana M., 2017, Survey of the vascular plants of Sierra Chica, the untouched area of the Paititi Natural Reserve (southeastern Tandilia mountain range, Buenos Aires province, Argentina), Check List 13 (6), pp. 1003-1036 : 1020

Mimosa rocae Lorentz & Niederlein

Figure 19

Mimosa rocae Lorentz & Niederlein (1881) : 213 — Cabrera (1967): 143; Flora Argentina (2017); Tropicos (2017).

Chamaephytes; native with distribution in the Southern Cone Region of South America. Vulnerable, reasons unknown ( Delucchi 2006).

Characteristics. Small shrubs covered with grey scales and with many creeping reddish branches. Leaves bipinnate, 0.3–1.5 cm long, with 1 pair of pinnae; leaflets imbricated, grey, 1–4 mm long, with stellate hairs. Inflorescence dense and globose, to 2 cm long, with yel- low actinomorphic flowers. Fruits tomentose, with pale brown loments that break apart at 1–4 constrictions.

Comments. This is an infrequent species in the study area. It grows in full sunlight conditions in cracks of rocks on the summits. In the mountains of the area, M. tandilensis Speg. can also be found but differs from M. rocae by presenting prickles on the stems and purplish pink flowers.