Travel Agent

Yesterday, my daughter and I accompanied my wife in submitting documents to her new work in Nuvali. While waiting for her to come out of the building, Tifa and I made ourselves busy pestering wild makahiya shrubs. I showed her how the leaves and branches move as I poke it with a finger. Tifa was so amazed that she started stomping on them.

Upon arriving home the afternoon, I started searching the internet for possible explanations on the plants movement. The first search hit brought me to a page with the following lines:

“Makahiya – Shy Heroine of the Philippines. A blossom newly named for President Arroyo sets off fury in a land of flower legends.”

I got curious so instead of checking for scientific explanations regarding my original search, I tried searching for the article mentioning the plant’s renaming to honor the president. Fortunately, I didn’t find any but this letter to the editor of Inquirer.net. A part of the letter had these lines:

“Ironically, on Aug. 3, 2006, we heard that a flower was being named after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The flower is now called “Mussaenda Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.” “It fits the President. It is petite and cute,” said Dr. Teresita Rosario, the plant’s breeder. The story about this flower is not folklore or a legend. But petite and cute? How can a fascist ruler be cute? How can a leader widely perceived as corrupt, fraudulent and a cheat be cute?

‘Naming a flower after Ms Arroyo is a betrayal of the people and dishonors flowers. Flowers must be adored and respected. Dr. Rosario’s flower deserves better. Who would love Mussaenda Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and its story?”

Funny that there wasn’t a plant named Walanghiya.

Anyway, back to my original search, Makahiya has a scientific name Mimosa pudica (Sensitive Plant). The plant’s movement is being caused by a rapid water movement on specialized cells triggered by a chemical reaction. This reaction is being called seismonastic movements.

Meanwhile, curious people from the other side of the globe decided to earn money from the lowly makahiya grass by calling it Tickle Me Plant. LOL!