Ken, thanks a bunch for such quick response! The nursery did pot it in dirt. But they also kept it with the original dirt it had. To answer your P.S., the plant wasn't in the ground but actually in one of those black plastic bag kind of coverings. But it's a good advice you're giving me here. Yes, we are at the top of summer; and though this summer is not too hot as past summers, still I think the sun is showering down twice its radiation down here. So it's good to know if I need to transplant from ground to pot in the future. This time, however, it has been pot to pot. I don't know if that makes a difference. The plant was rather manhandled during the transplant. (It's not a responsible nursery as you would think, but rather a thoroughfare of plant-selling bodegas.) But during the 2-block walk home and finding it a proper place, I tried to keep it as comfortable and shockless as possible. Still, perhaps the repotting was rather traumatic. The person who did it might as well have strangled the plant! I'll keep on watering it each time the dirt gets dry. I read somewhere I should just water into the plate. Perhaps that's the best idea. I have the hunch my seller really doesn't know much about it. I asked them about how to care for it and certain specs of the mimosa and all the person told me was instantly contradicted upon researching the web. But the good news is the plant cost me little over a buck; so I'm not worried about the money, but I do hope the plant gets happy soon and thrives. I've brought the plant in for the night to see if perhaps it's getting cold just before dawn, though I doubt it should get so cold as to affect it. Perhaps tomorrow I'll keep it out of direct sunlight and see how it progresses. Well, so thanks again for the good advice and the quick response! X.B. This post was edited by Xavier_Bonet on Sun, Feb 17, 13 at 18:28

To the best of my knowledge, Mimosa Pudica is really just a perennial or at most a small shrub. Since it's not hardy in my zone, that's the only way I have ever seen them. If it's a tree I surely can't think of anything in that zone other than an Albizia with that leaf configuration and with those 'magic' leaves. I don't think I have ever seen any documentation to the ability of the albizia to move its leaves in any other than a light response, but I have noticed when handling them on my own property they do have a slight response to strong touch, but not to the extent of the mimosa pudica nor to the extent they respond to light/dark. They are related, btw.

Many plants leaves fold up at night. It's called photonasty. Maybe it's a type of mimosa tree, a Pride of Barbados or a Royal Poinciana? I post photos using an image hosting site like Photobucket or Picasa. If you use Photobucket I can tell you how to post.

Les, I love my dentist too. He is a wonderful guy and he babies me because he knows I'm so phobic. My hands sweat as soon as I walk thru the office door, even for a routine cleaning. I am such a rational person in every other area of life, but I am wreck about the dentist. I have had one root canal and you're right, it wasn't any worse than having a regular crown done. For anything other than a regular cavity (which I haven't had in years -- but now I seem to be replacing old, large cavities with crowns about once every couple of years) my dentist now gives me Conscious Sedation, which is the best thing that's ever happened to me! I highly recommend it! If I didn't have it, they wouldn't be able to get me into the office. I take an anti-anxiety drug (forget the name now) an hour before my appointment, and by the time it's time to go in, DH practically has to carry me, I'm so out of it. Then I have regular novocaine and after the procedure is over, I barely remember a thing. It unfortunately "loses" a day for both DH and me, because he has to stay with me when I get home (so I don't do anything stupid in my drugged state) and I usually have to take a nap when I get home... but that's what we have to do. Fortunately my teeth aren't SO bad that this has to happen too often! I told my dentist once that I would rather give birth than have a cavity filled!