How to Identify Mimosa Hostilis

There are many different Mimosa trees if you’re speaking broadly. So how do you know which ones are Mimosa hostilis and which ones aren’t? Or even what Mimosa hostilis trees look like at all? It seems like a simple search would sort you out, but you’ll get many wrong answers before you get to the right one. Which is what I dealt with many years ago. So Since this has yet to be addressed on the internet, I might as well sort everyone out. Here I am writing an easy How to Identify Mimosa Hostilis guide. I will give a couple of examples that people mistake for Mimosa hostilis tree and at the bottom I will include Mimosa Hostilis Tree pictures. So you can skip right down there if you’re in a rush. 👉🏻😉👉🏻

This is NOT Mimosa Hostilis! This is called a Mimosa Tree, but it is Albizia Julibrissin. Many people think this is Mimosa hostilis, but it is not. Even if you search How to Identify Mimosa Hostilis, you will get articles listing this Albizia Julibrissin as Mimosa Hostilis. They have some similarities at first glance, if you ignore the flowers. Albizia Julibrissin is missing thorns and the leaves aren’t exactly the same. You will find a similar picture as this all over the internet listed as mimosa hostilis, but it is not Mimosa hostilis at all. If you see spiky pink flowers, just know that you have the wrong tree/product.

Some more info from Wikipedia “Albizia julibrissin is known by a wide variety of common names, such as Persian silk tree or pink siris. It is also called Lenkoran acacia or bastard tamarind, though it is not too closely related to either genus. The species is usually called “silk tree” or “mimosa” in the United States, which is misleading — the former name can refer to any species of Albizia which is most common in any one locale. And, although once included in Mimosa, neither is it very close to the Mimoseae. To add to the confusion, several species of Acacia, notably Acacia baileyana and Acacia dealbata, are also known as “mimosa” (especially in floristry), and many Fabaceae trees with highly divided leaves are called thus in horticulture. Its leaves slowly close during the night and during periods of rain, the leaflets bowing downward; thus its modern Persian name shabkhosb (شب‌خسب) means “night sleeper”. In Japan its common names are nemunoki, nemurinoki and nenenoki which all mean “sleeping tree”. Nemu tree is a partial translation of nemunoki.“

This is NOT Mimosa Hostilis! This is Mimosa Pudica. The sensitive plant. Plants can have many similarities in name and look from the leaves, but the flowers, fruits, and seeds help us narrow them down. This is another Mimosa variety that is COMMONLY misrepresented as mimosa hostilis in google images, and product pages since I first started researching in 2010. Still going on today, so be on the look out. The sensitive plant is a very popular mimosa, because as the name suggests, it is quite sensitive. The leaves will close up just from touching it, making it one of the fastest moving plants on earth. The leaves of mimosa hostilis will open as the sun hits them and close up tight when the rays fall short or depart for the night. Which is a common trait for mimosa or mimosa like trees in the Fabaceae family. Which is more commonly known as the legume or bean family.

Excerpt from Wikipedia “The species is native to South America and Central America, but is now a pantropical weed, and can be found in Southern United States, South Asia, East Asia and South Africa as well. It is not shade tolerant, and is primarily found on soils with low nutrient concentrations[7] Mimosa pudica is well known for its rapid plant movement. Like a number of other plant species, it undergoes changes in leaf orientation termed “sleep” or nyctinastic movement. The foliage closes during darkness and reopens in light.[8] This was first studied by the French scientist Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan. Due to Mimosa’sunique response to touch, it became an ideal plant for many experiments regarding plant habituation and memory.”

THIS IS Mimosa Hostilis! Notice the long white spiked flowers and the thorned branches. This is the skin tree which goes by many names depending on where you are. Mimosa Hostilis, Mimosa Tenuiflora, Jurema Preta, and Tepezcohuite. Which is native to Central and South America. This tree has been coveted for its magical uses with wounds, burns, and skin problems for hundreds of years. Very few places on the internet have this right. After you know what Mimosa Hostilis looks like, it’s impossible to mix it up with Albizia Julibrissin or Mimosa Pudica.

You can find plenty of Mimosa Hostilis info on our Blog or MHRB page or our Mimosa Hostilis Root Bark products page. However, I’ll include a bit from Wikipedia just in case. “The fern-like branches have leaves that are Mimosalike, finely pinnate, growing to 5 cm (2.0 in) long. Each compound leaf contains 15–33 pairs of bright green leaflets 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long. The tree itself grows up to 8 m (26 ft) tall[4] and it can reach 4–5 m (13–16 ft) tall in less than 5 years. The white,[4] fragrant flowers occur in loosely cylindrical spikes 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) long. In the Northern Hemisphere it blossoms and produces fruit from November to June or July.[5] In the Southern Hemisphere it blooms primarily from September to January. The fruit is brittle and averages 2.5–5 cm (0.98–1.97 in) long. Each pod contains 4–6 seeds that are oval, flat, light brown and 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) in diameter. There are about 145 seeds/1 g (0.035 oz).[6] In the Southern Hemisphere, the fruit ripens from February to April.”

So now you know how to identify Mimosa Hostilis trees. Glad we could help clear this up for you! If you know anyone that is having trouble with how to identify mimosa hostilis, please share the link with them. We appreciate you taking the time to read our blog and further your understanding. Not everyone does due diligence so pat yourself on the back.

Be sure to stop by our site Mayan Magic Soaps to learn more about Mimosa Hostilis.

This content was originally published at https://mayanmagicsoaps.com/blogs/mimosa-hostilis/what-s-not-mimosa-hostilis