It just doesn't have the same ring, does it? Another variation might be Bormes-les-Silver-Wattles, which again has a somewhat less romantic feel than Bormes-les-Mimosas.
No wonder M Salut gazes so quizzically at what he always thought was the mimosa tree at the back of his house.
What I know about flowers could be written in capital letters on the back of an old United bus ticket from County Durham and still leave room for the Darlington-Shildon timetable.
But I was mildly curious about this beautiful species that blooms all over Provence in February, so much so that the lovely village of Bormes decided at some point that it would seem lovelier still with the floral suffix. The ubiquitous bright yellow is just now beginning to fade; soon it will disappear altogether for another year.
But is it mimosa at all?
Not if my reading of internet sources (very well, mainly Wikipedia) presents a reliable guide.
The mimosa I found there looked nothing at all like the one on my tree. Nor do any of the other 400 species discussed in the Wikipedia article, or at least those of them for which I have seen photographs.
YimHafizScroll down a little and you find this suggestion that what the south of France calls the mimosa is, in fact, little more than a distant cousin, Acacia dealbata:
Members of this genus are among the few plants capable of rapid movement; examples outside of Mimosa include the Telegraph plant, and the Venus Flytrap. The leaves of the plant close quickly when touched. Mimosa can be distinguished from the large related genera, Acacia and Albizia, since its flowers have 10 or fewer stamens. Note that, botanically, what appears to be a single globular flower is actually a cluster of many individual ones.
Look up "yellow mimosas", as I did, and you find a flower that looks identical to those in my back garden and is indeed a species of Acacia called Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle).
Here is the description, together with a neat putdown for all the tourism officials (and tourists), florists and others - this journalist among them - who have always tried to tell you they had another, simpler, sweeter name:
Acacia dealbata is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in warm temperate regions of the world, and is naturalised in some areas, including southwestern Western Australia, southeastern South Australia, Norfolk Island, the Mediterranean region, California, and Chile. The timber is useful for furniture and indoor work, but has limited uses, mainly in craft furniture and turning. It has a honey colour, often with distinctive figures like birdseye and tiger stripes. It has a medium weight (540–720 kg/m³), it glues satisfactorily, and dresses well. It is similar to blackwood. The flowers and tip shoots are harvested for use as cut flowers, when it is known by the florist trade as "mimosa". In Italy, Russia and Georgia the flowers are also frequently given to women on International Women's Day.
That may be more information than anyone ever wanted. On the other hand, someone out there may have other pieces of the same floral jigsaw to fill the gaps - or sufficient botanical knowledge to remind me of the dangers of relying on the internet.
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