Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Neptunia plena
sensitiva de agua, water dead and awake, water mimosa, water neptunia
Suffrutescent herb, up to 2m tall, with young stems and glabrous fruit. The leaflets are oblong, and the flowers are yellow (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).
Mostly found in wet areas (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Fabales
Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Neptunia
Species
plena
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Desmanthus plenus (L.) Willd., Neptunia surinamensis Steud. fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010).
Origin: Native
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: The native range of this species is Tropical & Subtropical America (POWO, 2023).
- Abbott, I. Abbott, L.K. (1973) New distribution records of 65 plant species within the Galapagos Archipelago. Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS), unpublished.
- Adsersen, H. (1987) Patrones de distribución interna de las plantas vasculares en Galápagos. Memorias. Investigación Botánica y Manejo en Galápagos. Pg.74-87
- Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
- Brako, L. Zarucchi,J.L. (1993) Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45: i–xl, 1–1286.
- Cayot, L. J. (1987) Ecology of Giant Tortoise (Geochelone elephantopus)in the Galápagos Islands. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology in the Graduate School of Syracuse University.
- Chen, J. Craven, L.A. (2007) Flora of China. Flora of China 13: 321–328. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=10599
- Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
- D'Arcy, W.G. (1987) Flora of Panama. Checklist and Index. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 17(1): i–xxx, 1–328; 18(2): i–ix, 1–672.
- Eliasson, U. (1965) Studies in Galápagos Plants. I. Leguminosae. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 59: 345-367.
- Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
- Robinson, B.L. (1902) Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Expedition to the Galapgaos Islands. Proc. Amer. Acad. 38(4): 78-270.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
- Schery, R.W. (1951) Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 38(1): 1–94.
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Svenson, H.K. (1935) Plants of the Astor Expedition, 1930 (Galapagos and Cocos Islands). Am. J. Bot. 22: 208-277.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
- Windler, D.R. (1966) A revision of the genus Neptunia (Leguminosae). Austral. J. Bot. 14(3): 379–420.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Neptunia plena", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=541. Accessed 27 October 2025.