Dancing plant (Codariocalyx motorius) - seeds

A packet of Codariocalyx motorius seeds, 10 or 50 seeds, your choice.

Each leaf carries a large terminal leaflet and two small lateral leaflets. It is these two small ones that move: they trace arcs of a few millimetres, in successive movements, with a cycle of around three to five minutes. The phenomenon speeds up in heat and bright light, and stops at night, when the large leaflet folds downwards.

It is not a reaction to touch, unlike the sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica) it is often compared to: the movement is autonomous and continuous. Darwin devoted observations to it in The Power of Movement in Plants.

Soak the seeds for 12 to 24 hours in lukewarm water, then sow 5 mm deep in a light compost, at 22 to 26 °C, under a propagator lid. Germination takes one to two weeks. Prick out into individual pots at the two true leaf stage. Young plants need plenty of light, but no scorching sun behind glass.

A small subshrub of 60 cm to 1.20 m, frost-tender, to be grown in a pot: outdoors in summer in partial shade, brought in for the winter to a bright room above 15 °C. The movement is most spectacular on young shoots, which makes cutting it back each year as useful as it is decorative.

The Desmodium sold in capsules in the herbal supplement trade is a different species, Desmodium adscendens, from Africa, which has neither the movement nor the habit of this one. The two names are similar, but the plants have nothing in common.

These seeds are sold as ornamental and botanical collector's seeds. They are not a food product and are not intended for consumption. We provide no dosage, no preparation method and no expected effect.

Is the movement visible without a magnifying glass?
Yes, on a healthy, vigorous plant in warm weather. It is slow: place a reference mark behind a leaflet and come back a minute later, the difference is clear.

Does it react to sound or music?
That is often claimed. A few studies have reported an influence of sound vibrations, but nothing firmly established. What drives the movement, on the other hand, is well documented: heat and light.

Is it difficult?
No, as long as it is never allowed to get cold and is given plenty of light. It is an indoor or greenhouse plant, not a garden plant.

How long does it live?
A few years in a pot. It self-seeds easily in a greenhouse, which lets you renew the plants.

Also worth exploring: our botanical curiosities and our full range of seeds from around the world.