Sunshine Mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa)

Also known as: powderpuff mimosa

Quick Facts

• Type: wildflower
• Size: 2-4 in tall, spreading
• Sun: full
• Water: moderate
• Soil: Sandy to loamy soils
• USDA zones: 8-11

A creeping native groundcover dotted with pink powderpuff flowers; leaves fold up when touched.

Excellent living-mulch or lawn alternative that spreads by runners; mowable and tough once established.

In the Landscape

The native lawn alternative: use it as a flowering groundcover, living mulch under trees, or erosion control on slopes. It tolerates mowing, so it can be interplanted with turf grass.

Care & Propagation

Water regularly until rooted in, then it becomes quite drought-tolerant and needs no fertilizer (it fixes its own nitrogen). Mow or trim to keep it tidy; it stays only a few inches tall. Watch its edges — it spreads eagerly.

Sow scarified seed about a quarter inch deep in spring, or plant plugs and rooted cuttings; it spreads fast by runners once established. Just four or five pots can cover a couple hundred square feet in one season.

Wildlife Value

Native bees and butterflies visit the pink powderpuff flowers, and it is a host plant for the little sulphur butterfly's caterpillars.

🌱 Fun fact: In 2008 the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association named sunshine mimosa one of its Plants of the Year — the rare groundcover with an award on the shelf.

← Browse all Florida native plants

🌴 In Florida

Excellent living-mulch or lawn alternative that spreads by runners; mowable and tough once established.

🌿 Keep exploring

More Florida natives worth meeting:

• Alligator Flag (Thalia geniculata)
• American White Waterlily (Nymphaea odorata)
• Anisescented Goldenrod (Solidago odora)