Albizia julibrissin is one of my favorite tree medicines. I most often make a tincture of the blooms, leaves/stems and inner bark of limbs. I have also infused the blooms in honey. Many people dry the blooms and the inner bark for infusions. According to the American Journal of Essential Oils and Natural Products, “the presence of linalool, trans-linalool oxide, methyl salicylate, and eugenol are likely responsible for the fragrant odor of silktree blossoms.”
Mimosa is in the legume family (Fabaceae), and is a nitrogen fixer. It has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for anxiety, depression, insomnia and stress, and is often called “the Tree of Happiness”. While I love this tree, I do not encourage people to plant it because of its invasive nature; IPAMS says, “Mimosa is listed as a significant or severe threat in several southeastern US states, including Tennessee in the MidSouth region.” I do, however, feel that we can develop right relationship with this tree and learn to utilize its medicine.
Mimosa is often used for grief after any kind of loss. I blend mimosa with hawthorn leaves, flowers and blooms, motherwort, and wild roses to help move through deep sadness.
East West School of Planetary Herbology has some wonderful information on Mimosa. Albizzia: The Tree of Happiness.
According to Planetary Herbals: “Albizia was traditionally used to ‘calm the spirit’ and relieve emotional constraint when associated with bad temper, bad mood, sadness, occasional sleeplessness, irritability and poor memory. It was believed to be especially useful for anyone experiencing profound heart-breaking loss.”
Another source that I can no longer remember mentioned that Mimosa could be used for “breathlessness.” I love how one source called Mimosa tincture a “Spirit tonic”… but I’m not so keen on seeing it called “Chinese Herbal Prozac.”
I use Mimosa in my Anxiety Ease blend (which includes a few other nervines along with milky oats to help nourish and support the nervous system). Mimosa is also used for pain and inflammation. I have not seen much information on the whys and hows of this, but here is some TCM info on Mimosa that I found from the Herbal Shop.
I would really love to see more people take advantage of Albizia’s healing properties; especially since it’s so abundant (read: invasive) in this area. I have read that people who are already taking medication for depression or anxiety should talk to their doctors before taking any herbal preparation that would alter any results, so please take responsibility for your personal health if you are considering using this tree medicinally. Also, if you are pregnant or wish to become pregnant, check with your doctor before using this tincture; it is said to have strong blood moving properties.
Update: 3/30/2013
Mimosa blossom, bark and leaf tincture has been an amazing ally for me. When I first tasted it, I was slightly overwhelmed with the “Ohmygawd-I-Just-Sprayed-Perfume-in-my-mouth” taste, but then I got used to it. Originally I made a tincture of just the blossoms… so when I mixed the bark/leaf tincture with the blossom tincture, it tasted much better. Both tinctures *and the blend of the two* worked very well to treat grief, mild depression and lingering sadness over loss.
Mimosa tincture is very helpful for me when I feel tightness in my stomach/solar plexus due to stress or anxiety. It has a calming effect on my respiratory diaphragm and I am able to take deeper breaths during stressful situations.
Mimosa blooms infused in almond oil makes an uplifting and soothing massage oil.
Update: 4/15/2016
I’m finding that Mimosa is especially indicated for people who are stuck in a process; whether it’s a grief process that’s going nowhere or a biological process that has not been properly completed; Mimosa helps lift one’s spirit and perspective so that movement can begin again.
Jon Keyes has a great writeup on Albizia at Hearthside Healing
I have also noticed that when only the blooms are used, people who can become spaced out easily (as well as people who are super comfortable with being in the sky with diamonds), tend to report a feeling of “floating away” when using the tincture of the blossoms. Based on that feedback, I chose to blend the blooms with inner bark, stems and leaves and have used that tincture with very good results. Its grounding and uplifting at the same time.
Another point I would like to make here (which may end up being a blog post all its own) is that when someone is experiencing the grief process or if someone is dealing with loss, I believe it’s very important to fully have those experiences. I don’t suggest we use an herbal or other medicine to keep us from feeling our feelings. There are many great herbal allies who support us while we have our times of grief and loss. However, when a person feels the need to move through the grief or move on from loss and is unable to do so, Albizia blended with other supportive herbs can help to raise one’s perspective and spirit in order to begin moving through his/her process.
Enjoy working with Mimosa. My next adventures with this tree will be making a flower essence and experimenting with it in an insomnia blend.
Update 5/12/2017:
I have been working with Mimosa in situations of insomnia, irritability due to overwork, mental strain, or other stressors. If I find myself running on fumes or feeling like I have overtaxed my mind and can’t turn it off and rest, I turn to mimosa along with a few other allies like skullcap and passionflower. For the record, I also take much needed time to relax, get extra rest, drink lots of water, and sit quietly in my yard to restore my nervous system. I have to be careful not to overtax my system and then use mimosa as a band aid so I can keep going. #graduateschool
Update 7/28/2017:
Last year a Mimosa came to live with us (Surprise!), and this year she grew large enough to bloom. Earlier this spring, I heard Jack tell the kids to cut the Mimosa down. Jon and Joylynn, because they are brilliant, listened to me when I pulled rank on Mr. Bailey.
Jack: Why won’t you let the kids cut that tree down?
Me: Because this is an important tree. I will be able to help lots of people with this tree.
Jack: You don’t need this particular tree; they’re everywhere.
Me: At least tell me before you cut it down so my friends and I can make medicine with it, okay?
Later in the year, our Mimosa began to make flowers. I would go out every morning and sing to the tree and harvest blooms and a few leaves.
Jack: Why do you keep taking the blooms away? I’d like to enjoy a few of them if you don’t mind.
I think we’ll be keeping the Mimosa tree, and I am sure we’ll have plenty of babies next year.
Life Rhythm with Dana Tate Bailey 
Great information Dana! Thank you! As I mentioned before, all those years ago we had a huge mimosa tree in our yard, the smell wonderful, yet there was something that annoyed family about, not sure what now?
The small one that was growing in the garden, the ground hog had eaten most of the leafs off as well as the cucumbers…
I look forward to you tincture experience!
I’ve always heard that mimosa trees attract chiggers. Maybe that’s what annoyed your family? Great information by the way!
Hi Carrie! 🙂 No, I don’t believe mimosa trees attract chiggers.
I don’t understand the reference about my family being annoyed, but glad you liked the info!
Well i know that my step moms dad got annoyed with them due to the flowers falling on the ground
LOL My dad was the same way about sweet gum balls, Jade.
Thanks, Jeff! 🙂 I’m so glad you stopped by! (((hug)))
Dana: First, please know how THRILLED I am to have found your site just now. I am a beginner herbalist (focus on the beginner part) and your blog is a wealth of information! I’m also relatively geographically close to you (Middle Alabama) so I am familiar with several of the plants you’ve discussed.
I’m wondering, did you make your mimosa tincture with the flowers? I’m assuming the bark wouldn’t work well for a tincture, but the only ones I’ve made so far are passionflower and skullcap, so I’m not really sure.
Thanks so much!!
Maryellen
Hello Maryellen! I’m happy to have a new friend! 🙂 Yes, I made my mimosa tincture with the flowers (you can also use bark/twigs, I am told… I may try that method next to monitor differences)
Dana: Thanks so much for posting this! Since mimosa is so abundant, I would like to make my own homemade tincture using the blooms and bark. Can you tell me how your tincture turned out? Thanks so much!
Hi Bridget! My mimosa tincture turned out great. Very “perfumy” <–my new word…LOL but one adjusts to the taste over time; I don't know if the leaf/inner bark tincture has the same flavor or not; I think it's time to do a little more experimenting. 🙂 I'm glad to have you with me! Feel free to post your experiences here too!
I, too, am glad to find your site! I’m also glad to FINALLY find a reason others might appreciate about mimosas. Beautiful, pink, nice shade, hummingbird heaven werent good enough reasons for ’em. So to make a tincture just fill a jar & cover with vodka?
Greetings, Vicki! 🙂 Yes, I am thrilled and honored to promote one more wonderful reason to love Mimosa. Yes. Making a tincture is that simple. 🙂 Just make sure your vodka is 100 proof to best extract mimosa’s properties, and leave it in the jar for at least 6 weeks, then strain and bottle. Deep peace, ~Dana
Hi! I am just beginning to learn about herbs. So glad I found your website. Could you please let me know how you made your tinctures? Thanks!
Hi Wendy, so glad to see you here! 🙂 I will have to do a post some time on the way I make tinctures, but if you follow Susun Weed’s examples from her website and youtube videos, you will do fine. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi there, excellent article! What is the dose for the flower tincture?
I don’t give dose suggestions to others, but I will say that I personally take a dropper full and feel results within 20-30 minutes… will take another dropper full after a few hours if I feel I need it… I personally don’t take over 3 droppers full a day *and only if I really feel my symptoms are acute*. Hope this helps!
My son and I have just been harvesting seeds from our large Mimosa tree. Looked for growing info on the internet and found that it has medicinal properties! How cool! Happy to have found your blog. Maybe the next time our trees flower we will try this tincture. They grow quite well in our climate and have loads of flowers!
I’m so excited to read this post. Thank you! I have a mimosa tree just outside my window and have been enjoying watching the hummingbirds and butterflies all summer. I’ve also been struggling a bit with depression and am excited to try this tincture. Do you have any advice for gathering the bark, flowers, etc?
Hi Lynda! I like to gather from mimosa when it is in bloom. I actually have found that I get great results with using a combined tincture of the flowers, bark and leaves.
I would love to try out a tincture of mimosa, but I have never seen one. Any ideas where one could acquire one?
You have never seen a mimosa, or you have never seen a tincture of it?
I have never seen a tincture of mimosa (western or chinese), the tree is a fond memory of my childhood summers on Pickwick Lake in TN.
I’ve seen it sold as Albizia tincture at Whole Foods.
Seriously? I’ll have to look for it when I go next time. Thanks.
Thanks Vicki!
Well, a quick search of Amazon showed that I have just not been paying attention! Planetary formulas makes a tincture of the flower and bark, and HerbPharm makes one that looks like it’s just the bark… I am surprised that they don’t seem to include the flower too as they often have many parts of the same herb in a tincture. I am really curious to try this herb and see what happens.
I like to make a tincture of flowers only and a tincture of the twigs/leaves and inner bark. I was able to experiment with each of them. Personally, I ended up mixing them. 🙂 I did feel that the blooms were a little more uplifting than the bark, twigs and leaves. A little more “floaty”… If someone were already ungrounded or had a tendency to space out easily, I would not give the flowers only; I would blend it all together or just give them the bark/stem/leaf tincture.
I would love to be able to try the mix as you describe. Do you have any of that tincture left to sell?
I do have an ounce that I could send you. You may send 15.00 (12 + 3.00 shipping) to tupeloholisticcenter (at) gmail.com and send your full name and mailing address and I will get it right out to you. (Put in the space for notes that you are asking for an ounce of blended mimosa tincture.)
I found it strange that this was available as a tincture,as the root bark is a source of DMT however following the directions on the bottle did not result in much ,so I drank the whole bottle,wow now that works very calming mildly sedative taste like hell I don’t know how anybody could say this stuff tastes like perfume!?
it leaves at a god awful burning sensation in the throat.
Well, Dakota, I have to say that, if I drank a whole bottle of it, my throat would probably burn also.
As far as a DMT source, you have the wrong mimosa. That would be Mimosa hostilis.
I made a glycerite w/ mimosa and kava kava. It burned my throat after taking it and left a numb feeling for several minutes. Any ideas why? I have tinctured the kava kava before but I am new to mimosa blossoms.
I don’t know why it burned, Emily. I have never used glycerine to make tinctures, but that shouldn’t have caused a burning sensation either. I am very used to the numbness caused by good kava. 🙂
I am trying to incorporate this tree in my health care. Have purchased some nice bark from a supplier. But I am wondering how to use my own tree. It has been growing by my mailbox for years. It has lots of older bark available but my question is this… Should I only use fresh dried cut harvested bark from new growth limbs? Or can the older bark be used. Poor old tree could use some trimming anyway. But there are several lbs of older bark available where limbs were big limbs were broken and where some parts of the tree were damaged. Is the”happines” still in the bark of the sad parts of the tree? There really isn’t a way to test the potency of it… Thanks for your writing, I’m new into home grown health care and would like to find a healthier substitute for the ssri I was taking. I have tapered off the quantity of the chemical med and am alternating bark every other day as suggested.
Hi Jerry! I am happy to hear from you. Your sweet tree is happiness all the way through. 🙂
I would use the “inner bark”, and go ahead and trim back limbs and use the twigs, leaves, etc. in your extract. I always tincture leaves/flowers/etc. fresh with 50% vodka, but I go a bit higher in alcohol volume with the bark, I usually use Everclear and add enough water to make it appx. a 70-80% alcohol content. You can play with it and see what works best for you!
Mimosa is the common name. Another Mimosa is offered as medicine online. It is a different species and will have different healing properties AND is a scedule one substance which means illegal in the usa altho wonderful medicine. Please read the scientific names like good herbalists. Love and light. Great article. The mimosa from this article gross next door. So exciting =) Thank you for sharing!
*grows next door. Is in no way gross or annoying. BEAUTIFUL Tree of happiness makes total sense.
This tree makes me happy just looking at it. A bonus is that it helps support hummingbirds and butterflies, a joy to have around.
I’ve received a bottle of 10:1 flower extract pills from Barlowe’s Herbal Elixers from Amazon and am anxiously (hopefully not too anxiously!) awaiting the results to curb my incessant anxiety and insomnia/panic disorder/depression. I am a tough nut, as nothing, I mean nada, works except for hard-core benzos, which I will not take. I’ve been on all the big player SSRI’s, SNRI’s for agitated depression, as well as lithium and yada yada, and no more of that crap for me. I’m tracking down a high copper imbalance, but in the meantime really need to chill and get some sleep. This is a good site and I will visit again and post my results with big-time bad-ass anxiety (the product of both nature and nurture) vs. the lovely little frilly pink skirt tree.
I love Mimosa. And every year make an elixir of her beautiful flowers. Make the tincture as suggested, then after decanting add honey to taste. I use this ‘potion’ in brewed teas I make for folks in grief or any type of unhappiness. They say it is like receiving a warm heart hug. 🙂
I wonder if anyone has experience brewing the bark as a tea? I’ve seen references to Mimosa bark tea as “Collective Happiness Tea” in TCM. That sounds so lovely! I have just collected some bark from my tree (Albizia julibrissin) and was considering brewing up a cup. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. It is greatly appreciated!! 🙂
Yes! Let me know how you like it!
My mamosa is starting to flower and they fall on the ground. I am looking to try the useful properties per the discussion here. So how do I harvest properly just to try it out? Thinking I should I pick flowers, cut a small branch (one that has the leaves coming off it), break the branch into small bark-like pieces, fill large mason jars with the flowers and bark, pour vodka, wait 6 months, strain, then take using a half-sized dropper for starters.
Am I on the right track here?
Is there any alternative to using vodka (i.e. vinegar, etc)? How should the tincture be stored for 6 months (in a basement, cabinet, etc?). How long after the tincture is made can it last for? When using the tincture do you take it straight up or can it be added to tea and taken that way? Is this legal?
I am just trying to see if my mamosa will help provide any useful uses to insomnia, etc.
Hi Tom. You can harvest the flowers, leaves and bark. You don’t have to wait 6 months; 6 weeks will be fine. Strain and you can take around a dropper full as needed.
I am not sure about the properties that are extracted with other liquids like vinegar, glycerine, etc., but I am aware that the inner bark is decocted and taken as a tea.
I don’t understand what you mean by “is this legal”. Make sure we’re talking about the same tree: Albizia julibrissin. I am not aware of its use for insomnia, but if an inability to go to sleep is caused by anxiety, depression, high stress levels, etc., it could possibly help. I would use it in a combination with other herbs based on your particular situation.
Wishing you the best.
My tree looks exactly like the one at the top of the page here. I’ve never tried to do something like this before which was why I asked about it being legal, lol. I’m sure people use herbs for stuff like this all the time. I’m going to add Mint Leaves to the mixture as well. Thanks for the reply.
Today I took fist fulls of the Mamosa silk flowers and placed in 2 mason jars with some leaves and bark. I filled mostly with 80 proof vodka and topped off with filtered water. I am letting it sit covered for 6 weeks. I hope I did this correctly. I took pictures of it so that I can get an idea if anything is happening inside the jar over the next few weeks.
Great, let me know how it goes, Tom. Keep in mind that 80 proof vodka means only 40 per cent alcohol. When you top it off with water, you are lowering the alcohol content… it’s already 60 per cent water before topping it off. This should be fine for a beginning extract, but for future reference, you want your menstrum to be at least 40 per cent alcohol most of the time. Just to be consistent, I personally use 100 proof (50 per cent) vodka with most plants. Resinous material or plants that don’t extract well in water, I will use Everclear (95 per cent alcohol or 190 proof). Sometimes with inner bark or bark tinctures I will use 60 to 70 per cent alcohol (adding filtered water to everclear to make the percentage come out right). I know that’s a lot of information, but I find it’s hard to go wrong with good old hundred proof vodka. Happy tincturing!
Thanks for the info. I have a hard time understanding what the inner bark is. I see the branches holding the leaves. Where am I to get the bark from? Is the inner bark the middle of the tree where branches come off of? And how do I take it off the tree? Scrape it with a knife? Also, is it best to do in the fall when in dormant state or does it even matter? Sorry for all the questions, but I am slowly looking to become an expert at this 🙂
Tom, I get inner bark from downed limbs. If you cut a limb off you will notice the bark peels off rather easily. There is a paper thin brown bark, then a green inner bark, then the limb, which is whitish colored. I use the green inner bark. If you plan on drying it for use, cut it up while still green because it gets a lot harder to do when dry and hardened.
Thanks for the info. I do have to cut the tree back when it goes dormant so I may look to do that each fall, harvesting the limbs I cut. The mix I am currently making is a trial and made up of flowers, leaves, and some root that I cut up. Not expecting high hopes, but its a start. Learning more from this forum for sure.
Mimosa is a genus of plants that does not contain Albizia julibrissin nor any Albizia species, and medicinal properties of plants can differ from species to species, moreso when from a different genus; thus it is strongly suggested that the name mimosa be reserved for species within the Mimosa genus, which can have significantly different effects than those of Albizia species mostly being discussed in context of this site. Abuse of nomenclature is nothing new, yet it would be nice for more efforts to be made to help avoid confusion especially when involving extracts w potentially serious medicinal consequences. Perhaps it is time to get reader suggestions for a more appropriate name for the wonderful Albizia julibrissin silk tree, also known as nemuri noki, … any suggestions?
Hello Mark. Thank you for commenting on my post. I understand your concern; I am very careful to stress the latin name of each plant that makes an appearance on my blog. Common names overlap with many different plants and using only common names to identify plants can be dangerous (or disappointing at best) when a plant is not identified properly.
I appreciate you giving your opinion on this matter; in my opinion, any common name we adopt for Albizia may confuse someone from another area if they’re already using that common name for another plant. Therefore, I will keep Mimosa as a common name for this lovely tree and suggest that, when referring to our plants and trees, we also include latin names so that there’s no confusion.
Best wishes!
Dana
Hi, Dana,
thanks for your reply. My point is that they are already usung the word “mimosa” for another plant genus, some species of which have psychotropic properties that may cause concern, and formal nomenclature has been in use for some time, albeit not well followed by colloquial use, so confusion already exists; this is similar to how the word bee is often used as common epithet for the roughly similarly looking yellowjacket as well, despite the fact that yellowjackets are actually hornets; misuse of the word bee has likely associated real bees w more blame for stings than their behaviour actually demonstrates; in rough analogy it is quite plausible that one may be allergic to species of the Mimosa genus, while not being allergic to species of the Albizia genus. Since plants of the Mimosa genus are already commonly called “mimosa”, how about using the common name “albizia” for plants of the Albizia genus including the lovely silk tree that you have provided nice photos of ? The name may not be so poetically elegant, yet it would help to encourage proper understanding of which plant is which, no? Personally i also was told that my nemurinoki silk tree in my back yard was called “mimosa” even before i planted it a few years ago; having to re-learn its name, since learning that it is really not Mimosa, has not been easy for me either, esp since its old name seemed more poetically suited for its elegant appearance; wishing that people who decide on international taxonomic standards took a little more time to think about how well names fit before formalizing them, eh?
Hello agin, Mark. I understood your point, and I also understand your concern; you have every right to your opinion, and I’m choosing to approve your comments because I feel that your opinion is just as important as mine. 🙂
My opinion is that if someone is looking at one particular blog post in order to identify or to learn everything there is to know about a plant based on common name, they’re doing it wrong. Let me take this moment now to stand on my little platform and give my common name speech.
Please do not rely on a common name to make sure you have the correct genus/species of a plant.
Please do not rely on one person or one website to tell you if you have the correct plant for your needs in your hands.
Please do not rely on ME to tell you everything you need to know about how a particular plant will help your issue.
Educate yourself with many sources
Educate yourself.
Educate yourself.
And if you have a problem with calling Albizia “Mimosa”, then simply don’t do it.
Hi, Dana,
Thanks again for your website blog forum
and thoughtful response as well …
point well taken … terminology can be somewhat awkward by its very nature and so should be taken in respective context … albeit
whatever language or colloquial nickname used … in any case, live and learn;
meanwhile, it is my impression that there
are many prolific species w herbal-medicinal
properties in the family Fabaceae, esp in the subfamily Mimosoideae, including acacias, ingas, mimosas, etc. Would you or your readers happen to know whether there is any ongoing comparitive study of homeopathic drops extracted from these wonderful plants ?
For example, some extracts of Mimosa tenuiflora may be problematic when taken in high doses, yet may have potential of being quite helpful when taken homeopathically.
Your insight is greatly appreciated.
Hey again!
I have never worked with any of the Mimosoideae; I was under the impression that these can’t be shipped to the states and that it’s illegal to have here (thinking of M. tenuiflora in particular); I’ve not heard of working with homeopathic drops of these plants. Unfortunately I don’t have any insights on these plants because I’ve never worked with them.
Nice chatting!
thanks again for your consideration, Dana, ( my reply here is not intended for posting as is because may want to check details first, and maybe if you like post just snippets of my wordiness herein: ) i gather that you mean that you rarely work w mimosoids other than Albizia species … the reason for my interest in the comparison is that i’ve been trying to shake a propensity of developing oxalate kidney stones, and i heard that Albizia seeds tend to contain high concentrations of oxalate … yet may contain some balancing metabolite which may have potential homeopathically for reducing oxalate buildup propensity … and having that wonderful tree in our backyard is inspiring me to try making some dilute extract from it to test its efficacy for preventing kidney stones by helping to mitigate oxalate buildup and/or to delay the precipitation of excess oxalate as annoying stone-like clustering of crystals … that is maybe grasping at straws, yet the modern conventional medications for this have not been very workable for me, and i imagine there are many others in similar pinches; as dilute lemon-juice tends to work better than lime-juice, such analogy may hold for fabaceae extracts as well, thus my quest for comparitve studies. Thanks again,
— mark
I don’t know where you’re from, but in my neck of the woods everybody knows mimosa is the tree with the pretty pink flowers. Kinda hard to mistake it for a plant. I highly doubt a change of its common name will occur in my lifetime. A cursory view of Google will differentiate between mimosa as a plant and tree.
Most people I know use the common name as Mimosa as well to mean the tree, Sensitive Plants is the name that is often used for the non woody plants and shrubs (ie read here not the tree) (which is the genus Mimosa I believe–don’t quote me on that look that up) But I would assume that we should all know the importance of botanical names (and Dana does) of course. You can always ask anyone to clarify to make sure you are both on the same page and actually talking about the same species. There is no harm in that. I shall continue with Mimosa! 😀
it is a wonderful name, as seems befitting for such a wonderful plant/tree/whatever; still not sure how similar to what i’ve heard grows rampant in hawaii, not sure which would be more effective for minimizing pain of kidney stones, muscle spasms, etc. …
also, since there were many seedpods produced by our albizia this year, i’ve been hoping for some serendipitous use for the seeds, perhaps by tincture/infusion w further dilution, maybe some chance of helping to restore a more healthy metabolism for processing oxalates … whether better to cook them in process, how well they can be stored when dry, etc. … any insight greatly appreciated, thanks.
Hi dana, great article. I lived in the infamous Ferguson, Missouri for a couple years and in the midst of th violence and chaos that was a daily experience in that town, there was a mimosa tree right down the street from me. I would walk past it on my walks (let love guide – not fear – I would not let the deeply distressed people/events/energies keep me from finding peace and enjoyment outdoors) and I couldn’t help but look it up on the web. The mimosa ‘silk’ tree is a vibrant healing tree, and they grow quite well smack dab in the middle of some of the worst soil, bringing back to the surface nutrients to rejuvenate the top soil. Perfect for Ferguson! I find nature to be the best doctor so, I’m very proud to say that I’m in school to get a bachelor’s in alternative medicine and my love for plants may take me to further schooling in herbology and botony. Thank you for this information, I may need to pay a visit to good ol’ Fergi mimosa to gather some buds, leaves and bark. 😉 cheers!
Hello Holly. Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I am very happy for you. I agree that nature is the best doctor for me as well, and I wish the very best for you in your studies.
Big love,
Dana
So delighted to find your post about the tree that used be in backyard as I grew up, and which we always referred to as the “Silk Tree.” My mom found it very messy (blossoms, and then the seed pods all other the lawn), but I loved to climb the tree and read on its limb, and those blossoms, leaves, and pods found their way into many kid games. The tree as well, as (when we were reading Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mysteries) we’d tie each other up to it, and then practice escaping! Truly a tree of joy indeed. I
I’ve found one of these trees where I now live in the Pacific NW, and I’m looking forward to renewing my acquantance with it, now that I’m an herbalist. Looking forward to seeing if I can get permission to harvest a little for tincture-making.
Thank you again!
Jane
How interesting! While I won’t ever plant a mimosa (I love them, but I live in Northeastern NC where they are prevalent and invasive) – I do have access to many trees. I’ve never thought of finding a practical usage for them.
We have a huge mimosa and numerous sprouts in our yard. Here in the NC mountains, we are looking for hardy flood control species to grow near streams, ponds, and catch basins. With their deep roots, the mimosa sprouts may work.
As for curing depression, can we substitute for liquor in the formula? When depression sufferers get spaced out over mimosa tincture in liquor, the non-mimosa component may be the active ingredient. Can we substitute native ginseng roots or some moonshine recipes instead?
Hi Carl. I have no idea how invasive mimosa is in your area, but you may want to research good natives that will help you with flood control.
I would not say that mimosa exactly cures depression; there are many reasons for depression and different ways to work with depression. I love mimosa for its ability to gently lift one’s spirits while working through an emotional process.
As far as alcohol, if someone is extremely sensitive to alcohol, I would suggest possibly making a tea of the inner bark or extracting it in glycerine (I don’t work with glycerine, so I can’t tell you the proper way to do that).
The amount of tincture one consumes at a time, though, shouldn’t be enough alcohol to cause a problem for most people.
In my area, ginseng is an at risk plant, so I don’t work with it.
The Mimosa Tree is one of my favorite trees!!! Thank you for sharing this valuable information! I had no idea!!!
The Albizia julibrissin tree has a bark that is rather hard. What do you do to remove the bark without damaging the tree? Lightly shave the branches? the truck?
hahahahhaa
I use a D9 dozer.
Seriously though, I only work with the stems of the tree, so I don’t get into the hard bark.
Great question, thanks.
Did you dry the blooms,leaves and bark before making your tincture?
Or did you just mix the fresh blooms leaves and bark with vodka and how long did you let it sit for?
I guess I’m curious about your recipe for your tincture 🙂 thank you so much!
I also suffer from anxiety and knots in my stomach.
Kate
I use fresh plant material when making my tincture, and I use 100 proof vodka. You can also use 80 proof alcohol. I always let my tinctures sit for at least 6 weeks. ♡
Hello. I made a tincture of the blooms and stems last July with 86 proof vodka. The pink blossoms turned to a lighter color, almost beige while tincturing. I just finally got around to straining it and the smell is so different to the fresh smell, very strong and unpleasant. I have only had mimosa tincture mixed with other herbs and honey before and it was just lovely. What do you think of the smell of the blossom tincture?
Hi Amy, thanks for reaching out. When you say “unpleasant”, can you describe what you mean? The coloring of the blooms is appropriate for a tincture, and it tastes strongly perfume-like. If you haven’t already, go ahead and strain the plant material out of the menstrum. Is there a film on the top of the strained tincture?
Hi Dana, It’s a very wafting almost perfumey smell. It just does not smell anything like the fresh blooms. I did strain it and there was no film. Thank you for responding.
Sounds normal to me!
Thank you for your input Dana. I really appreciate that and this blog post.