Mimosa silk tree

[Guest guest]

In an earlier post today I referred to the class of herbs called

Herbs That Nourish the Heart and Calm the Spirit. I want to draw

your attention to another herb in this category Cortex Albizziae

Julibrissin (aka mimosa tree bark, aka He Huan Pi).

 

The literal translation of He Huan Pi os " collective happiness

bark " . Its thermal energy is neutral, and it has an affinity for the

Heart and Liver.

 

Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble report in Chinese Herbal Medicine

Madica, revised ed., p. 407:

 

" Clams the spirit and relieves constraint: for bad temper,

depression, insomnia, irritability, and poor memeory due to

constrained emotions.

 

" Invigorates the blood, alleviates pain, and dissipates swellings:

for pain and swelling due to trauma (including fractures) as well as

abscesses or similar swellings. "

 

He Huan Pi is the bark of the mimosa silk tree. The flowers also

are used in TCM and are called He Huan Hua. It's thermal energy also

is neutral. " It promotes the free flowing of constrained Liver qi,

invigorates the blood, and calms the spirit. It is used primarily

for insomnia, poor memory, and irritability due to constrained

emotions, especially when accompanied by epigastric pain and

feelings of pressure in the the chest. " (p. 407)

 

There are no cautions and contraindications (except for some people

are allergic to the pollen).

 

This is a very exotic looking tree with its long compound, fern-like

leaves and its pink flowers that look somewhat like powder puffs.

For a fairly good picture of the flowers, click on:

 

http://www.wellesley.edu/Biology/Web/Species/psilktree.html

 

That's a fairly good picture of the flowers and leaves, but the

picture of the tree doesn't do it justice. For a better picture of

the tree, click on:

 

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=166

 

This site has a good picture of the tree but not the flowers.

Personally I think a mimosa silk tree looks best alone surrounded by

lawn instead of grouped in with other trees on the edge of forested

areas. When the trees are surrounded by lawn instead of other

trees, their shape, leaves, and flowers really stand out.

 

However, there are cons as well as pros to planting this tree. It's

a weed tree in the US and European countries. It can spread rapidly,

growing out native vegetation. This tendency is lessened somewhat

when it is planted by itself surrounded by lawn as many of the

seedlings are mowed and killed when one mows the lawn. It's

relatively short-lived as trees go (30 years), but it's very hard to

kill. If you cut down the trees, suckers spring from the roots.

 

On the plus side hummingbirds and butterflies love the abundant,

heavy necter. On the minus side, you don't want to park your car

under one for the very reasons that humingbirds and butterflies love

it. Nor do you want to keep lawn furniture under it unless you

really enjoy washing the furniture regularly.

 

A discussion of the pros and cons of this tree can be read at:

 

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1764/index.html

 

I apologize for the commercial ads on the site, but I couldn't find

an education site with a good discussion of the pros and cons on it.