Mimosa tenuiflora

In an overview of the chemical composition and uses of Mimosa tenuiflora, Sara Lucía Camargo-Ricalde maintains that, despite an established contemporary tradition of this plant as a Mexican folk medicine for the efficacious treatment of skin problems, burns and wounds, the author could find no pre-Hispanic references to medicinal uses of tepescohuite in major sources such as the Códice Badiano by Martín de la Cruz, Francisco Hernández´s Historia de las plantas de la Nueva España, and the Códice Florentino compiled by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún. Furthermore, she was not able to discover any indication that Mimosa tenuiflora (previously known as Mimosa hostilis) is used currently by different ethnic groups (such as the Zoques, Mixes, Popolocas, Huaves and Zapotecos) in the geographical region where this tree grows in Mexico. Etymologically, the Náhuatl origin of the tree’s name refers to the hardness of its wood, a tree of iron: tepus-cuahuitl. Camargo-Ricalde seems to lament the fact that Mimosa tenuiflora contains “certain alkaloids” that might be an obstacle to the successful commercialization of the plant in over-the-counter products. Pedro Cadena-Iñiguez also warns of the potential danger of certain unspecified metabolites in the plant that might produce what he calls “undesirable effects”. Be that as it may, renowned actress Salma Hayek has said that her use of cosmetics containing tepescohuite in the form of lotions and soaps (some of which she is hawking online) have obviated her need to get botox treatments! 

Indeed, Mimosa tenuiflora (called Jurema in Brazil) has been found to be rich in N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and is used in the preparation of a potent drink called vinho da jurema used ritually by contemporary Afro-Brazilian religious groups such as Catimbó, Umbanda and Candomblé especially in Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil (see Maria Thereza Lemos de Arruda Camargo’s fascinating article “Contribuição ao estudo etnofarmacobotânico da bebida ritual de religiões afrobrasileiras denominada “vinho da Jurema” e seus aditivos psicoativos”). Still to be resolved is the identity of the MAO inhibitor in the ingredients of the Jurema preparation. Is it Cyperus, known in Brazil as dandá or junça and in Peru as Piri Piri? Perhaps the answer can be found in the recent phytochemical studies undertaken by José Jailson Lima Bezerra (see also Dobolyi, Guajac, Sayed and Xue on uridine and Cyperus) that are included in the Microcosms Bibliography.  Christian Rätsch, in his Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants, documents Indigenous use of Mimosa tenuiflora in the eastern Amazon region among the Pancarú, Karirí, Tusha, and Fulnio.  Rätsch also mentions that certain Afro-Brazilian ayahuasca cults “venerate Indian spirits (caboclos),” among them Cabocla Jurema, “a personification of Mimosa tenuiflora.”

Finally, here is a link to the song “Folha de Jurema” (brought out originally in many versions as “Nem Ouro Nem Prata”). How is it, exactly, that it’s raining with thunder and lightning under blue skies on a perfectly sunny day? What formidable powers does this plant wield in the forest kingdom ruled by the Afro-Brazilian orisha Oxóssi?