Making the Most of Invasives: Albizia (Mimosa tree) Medicine

Here is an article I wrote last summer on mimosa flower medicine, after visiting Mountain Gardens in North Carolina, a 40 year running land project in the Blue Ridge Mountains focusing on growing native Appalaichan and Chinese medicinal herbs. I'm posting it now since it will soon be time to harvest albizia flowers, which are another delicious and powerful flower medicine. Albizia is another example of an invasive plant whose spread needs to be controlled; and whose use in Traditional Chinese Medicine only strengthens the case for its harvest.

Yesterday morning, I climbed up the step stool and grasped a mimosa branch, reaching for as many aromatic pink flowers as I could find. The bees and other insects were hovering over the flora; a noteworthy sign that the time is right to harvest. This indicates the essential oils and vitality of the flowers are at their peak.

            The mimosa tree, Albizia julibrissin, is generally considered a pernicious weed throughout the South; it is indeed a non-native plant that quickly spreads throughout the eco-system. However, albizia is also an important herb for happiness in Chinese medicine; both the flowers and bark can be made into a tincture. Joe Hollis, an herbalist from Mountain Gardens in North Carolina, recently told me that albizia is especially effective for those going through depression or heartbreak. The herbal supplement company Planetary Herbals concurs, noting that in Chinese medicine, “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” (see further http://www.planetaryherbals.com /products/GP1867/). There are also scientific studies now that verify the calming components of albizia bark.

             In light of the ever-increasing interest in herbal medicine in the U.S. along with the unstable economy, it seems wise to me that we focus on cultivating both Eastern and Western herbs domestically. It is also fascinating that some of the same invasive plants that are causing serious problems in the ecosystem here (honeysuckle, kudzu, and albizia, e.g.) could be harvested and used for medicine while simultaneously helping relieve their footprint over other native plant life.            

            There are certainly many people who are already doing this. The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm in Sonoma County, California organically grows over 35 Chinese herbs for the marketplace. Joe Hollis, whom I mentioned above, orchestrates a forty year-old project called Mountain Gardens, a botanical garden with the largest number of Chinese herbs in the eastern U.S., grown alongside native Appalachian herbs. I had the opportunity to visit the “paradise garden” while attending the 2012 Medicines of the Earth Symposium in Black Mountain, NC last weekend. In one of the lectures I attended, American Herbalist Guild founder Michael Tierra mentioned several times the imperative need for the U.S. to domestically produce Chinese herbs. Importing them is already becoming difficult due to factors such as rising fuel costs and the presence of heavy metals in herbs sourced from China. In the past year here at the co-op, we have had difficulty getting several of our Chinese herbal formulas.

            There is some concern that growing Chinese herbs outside of their native environment will not yield the same herbs, suitable for medicinal use. There is contemporary research that disproves this, though. Also, the climates found in China and U.S. are very similar. After studying Dan Shen, or red sage, grown in China and the U.S., Bill Schoenbart recently concluded that:

Dan Shen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) can be successfully grown outside of China

with organic agricultural methods…This has positive implications for the environment, both in

the reduction of pesticide and synthetic fertilizer usage, and in reducing pressure on

Chinese agricultural land due to increased demand for Chinese herbs worldwide.

            So, there are several (if not many) substantial benefits to the domestic cultivation and wildcrafting of Chinese medicinal herbs both for individuals and the market. I find this topic so invigorating and hopeful because it contributes toward a full circle of sustainability: benefiting the native ecosystem in reducing invasive plant species, using that same plant material medicinally; while also reducing the heavy U.S. footprint on Chinese land and fossil fuel use. That thought alone calms my spirit.

           

Above photos taken by Meade Aronson

Notes/further reading:  

Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm: http://www.chinesemedicinalherbfarm.com/

Joe Hollis’ Mountain Gardens: http://mountaingardensherbs.com/

Michael Tierra and philosophy of Planetary Herbology. http://www.planetherbs.com/

Miller, James H. Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests, 2007.

Safe, sustainable ways to harvest herbs from the wild as described by 7song, director of the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine. “Wildcrafting for the Practicing Herbalist” (http://7song.com/files/Wildcrafting%20for%20the%20Practicing %20Herbalist.pdf).

Schoenbart, Bill, L.Ac. “High Performance Thin Layer Chromatographic (HPTLC) Analysis of Dan Shen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) Roots Grown in Different Regions of the World” p.1)