Whenever I see something which brings fascination, I sometimes take my niece to witness it. Like makahiya plant just outside our house was something she wanted to see. She nicely asked me, “Tito, gusto ko pumunta sa makahiya.” (Uncle, I like to go to makahiya). When I got up from my seat, she then opened her arms laterally ready for me to pick her up. I always carried her and clearly pointed out, “Oh, yung dahon lang yung gagalawin, ah?” (Oh, the leaves should only be moved, OK?). And whenever she does that, she always giggles so loudly – she was captivated. “Tito, magic!!!”
Makahiya (Sensitive Plant) is an herb well known for closing its leaves inward and sagging when touched or shaken, and re-opening within few minutes. Its thorns should be watched out for. “After 5 minutes, bubuka uli yan, baby. Balik na lang tayo mamaya, ah?” (After 5 minutes, it will reopen, baby. We’ll get back later, ok?”, I said. Then she was nodding her head with a smile.
Its flower heads can be a pale pink or purple in color. Makahiya’s leaflets fold together and the whole leaf appears limped downward in the evening. At sunrise, it opens again.
My niece was picking these flowers. I asked a few what kind of plant is that. I got a variety of answers - “Urualasdose”, “Urualasdiyes”, and “Rosas de alas diyes”. Of course, I’ve chosen what was pleasant to my ears, the latter. It is great for gardening and landscaping.
“Nata man pinangaran na arog kaan” (Why it was named as that?), I asked.
One of them explained, “An burak kaan minakipot pag alas singko nin hapon, tapos mabuka an kinaagahan, mga alas diyes nin aga. Pag alas dose nin udto, bukahun na an tapos masara naman utro pagkahapon.” (Its flower will close forming like a bud at 5pm, and then will start to bloom again in the morning at 10am, At 12 noon, it is already fully bloomed then it will close again in the afternoon.)
It has the variety of colors - pink, white, or a combination of two. Notice that its leaves moved upward closer to their stems. In this picture, the yellow flower is not of Rosas de alas diyes but it has the same open-close mechanism.
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Save our planet Earth, let us preserve the beauty of nature.
You can easily grow your own sensitive plant indoors year round and play with the leaves all day!
Posted by Jen at September 13, 2009, 10:26 pm@sunny…ang saya diba? madami nyan sa probinsya.
@Jen…that i don’t know yet. I may visit that site…thanks. 
i love rosas de alas diyes. they grow easily. just snip off a stem, transplant it, and the next day it’ll bloom as if nothing happened.
yap i like that flower too..many colors..pink,fushia pink,red,yellow,white,combinatin of red and white…easy to grow as what they have said…its cute…
Posted by maggie at August 23, 2010, 12:44 pmAll comments are moderated. Your comments will not appear here unless approved by the blog owner. Thank you.
aheheheh! nice post…naalala ko tuloy nun bata pa ko, hahahahalam ko yang makahiya na yan!
Posted by sunny at September 13, 2009, 6:38 pm