Species are native to the Americas, from North Dakota to northern Argentina, and to eastern Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar) as well as the Indian subcontinent and Indochina.

[1] The generic name is derived from the Greek word μῖμος (mimos), 'actor' or 'mime', and the feminine suffix -osa, 'resembling', suggesting its 'sensitive leaves' which seem to 'mimic conscious life'.

It is native to southern Central and South America but is widely cultivated elsewhere for its curiosity value, both as a houseplant in temperate areas, and outdoors in the tropics.

The taxonomy of the genus Mimosa has gone through several periods of splitting and lumping, ultimately accumulating over 3,000 names, many of which have either been synonymized under other species or transferred to other genera.

In part due to these changing circumscriptions, the name "Mimosa" has also been applied to several other related species with similar pinnate or bipinnate leaves, but are now classified in other genera.