touch-me-not

touch-me-not (tchm-nt)

n.

1. See jewelweed.

2. See sensitive plant.

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[From the bursting of the ripe seedpods when touched.]

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touch-me-not

n

(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Plants) any of several balsaminaceous plants of the genus Impatiens, esp I. noli-me-tangere, having yellow spurred flowers and seed pods that burst open at a touch when ripe Also called noli-me-tangere

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	touch-me-not - North American annual plant with usually yellow or orange flowers; grows chiefly on wet rather acid soil celandine, Impatiens capensis, jewelweed, lady's earrings, orange balsam herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests genus Impatiens - annual or perennial herbs with stems more or less succulent; cosmopolitan except for South America, Australia, and New Zealand
	2.	touch-me-not - Mediterranean vine having oblong fruit that when ripe expels its seeds and juice violently when touched Ecballium elaterium, exploding cucumber, squirting cucumber gourd vine, gourd - any vine of the family Cucurbitaceae that bears fruits with hard rinds Ecballium, genus Ecballium - exploding cucumber; squirting cucumber
	3.	touch-me-not - prostrate or semi-erect subshrub of tropical America, and Australia; heavily armed with recurved thorns and having sensitive soft grey-green leaflets that fold and droop at night or when touched or cooled action plant, humble plant, live-and-die, Mimosa pudica, sensitive plant, shame plant genus Mimosa - genus of spiny woody shrubs or trees; named for their apparent imitation of animal sensitivity to light and heat and movement mimosa - any of various tropical shrubs or trees of the genus Mimosa having usually yellow flowers and compound leaves