Mimosa Hostilis Root Bark: Antidepressant Effects, Legality & More
Mimosa hostilis is a perennial tree or shrub native to the northeastern region of Brazil, southern Mexico, and several other countries in Latin America.
Mimosa tenuiflora is a synonym for the plant. This is the current scientific name for the plant. Mimosa hostilis is the former name. However, since the earlier one is still in common usage, this is the one we will use.
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Mimosa hostilis also goes by the names jurema preta, calumbi (Brazil), tepezcohuite (Mexico), carbonal, cabrera, jurema, black jurema, and binho de jurema.
This shrub has medicinal and entheogenic uses. The root bark of Mimosa hostilis contains DMT, which means that it can be used to prepare a psychedelic brew. Psychedelic users also order the root bark so that they can extract DMT from it, which can then be smoked or vaporized.
Mimosa hostilis is legal in many countries. If you live in one of these countries, then you wouldn’t face any legal repercussions for purchasing and possessing the root bark. However, extracting or possessing the DMT contained in Mimosa hostilis root bark would be illegal.
This guide is going to delve into all of the following topics in much greater detail:
- What Mimosa hostilis looks like
- Where Mimosa hostilis grows
- The different uses of Mimosa hostilis
- Effects and benefits
- The legality of Mimosa hostilis
- Where to buy Mimosa hostilis root bark
An Overview of How to Consume Mimosa Hostilis Root Bark
| Method of Consumption | Effects | Duration | Notes |
| Oral Ingestion (as part of an ayahuasca brew) | Strong visual and auditory hallucinations, altered perception of time and space, euphoria, introspective insights, nausea, vomiting | Several hours | This method requires combination with a MAOI (monoamine oxidase inhibitor) to make DMT orally active. It can also intensify the effects and potential risksSmoking/vaporizing the root bark |
| Smoking/vaporizing the root bark | Rapid onset of visual and auditory hallucinations, altered perception of time and space, euphoria, introspective insights | A few minutes to an hour | This method bypasses the need for a MAOI but the intensity of the effects can be overwhelming and abrupt |
| Topical application (as part of a traditional healing salve) | Antimicrobial, wound healing, pain relief | Varies | This method does not typically produce psychoactive effects |
A Note About Mimosa Flower Uses
Mimosa hostilis flower is native to several countries in Latin America, including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, and Honduras. Although it is not currently listed as a threatened or endangered species, excessive or unsustainable harvesting could indeed pose risks to its survival in the long term, especially in regions where it is endemic.
Sustainable practices in harvesting Mimosa flower uses are essential to protect this plant and its habitat. Over harvesting not only threatens the plant itself but can also disrupt local ecosystems, as this plant plays a role in preventing soil erosion and is a source of food and shelter for various animals.
Another factor that could impact the plant’s abundance is its illegal trade linked to its use in the production of DMT (Dimethyltryptamine), a potent psychedelic substance. In many countries, the sale, possession, and use of DMT are strictly regulated, and these restrictions can sometimes lead to illicit activities that can put further pressure on the species.
While Mimosa hostilis is not currently considered rare or endangered, it is vital to ensure that its harvesting is conducted in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner, both to conserve the species itself and to protect the ecosystems in which it plays a role.
A Description Of Mimosa Hostilis
Mimosa hostilis has fern-like branches that are finely pinnate, growing to 5 cm (2 in) long. Each compound leaf comprises 15-33 pairs of bright green leaflets 5-6 mm (0.2-0.24 in) long. The tree itself grows up to 8 m (26 ft) tall and it can reach a height of 4-5 m (13-16 ft) in less than five years.
The white, fragrant flowers of Mimosa hostilis occur in loosely cylindrical spikes 4-8 cm (1.6-3.1 in) long.
The fruit is brittle and averages 2.5-5 cm (0.98-1.97 in) in length. 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, all weighing about 1 g.
Mimosa hostilis bark is dark brown to gray. It splits lengthwise and the inside is reddish brown. The wood of the tree is dark reddish brown with a yellow center. It is very dense, durable, and strong.
This plant is known to do very well after a forest fire or another major ecological disturbance. It is a prolific pioneer plant. This means it is a hardy species that is the first to colonize a barren environment or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystem that has been disrupted, such as by wildfire.
Mimosa hostilis drops its leaves on the ground, continuously forming a thin layer of mulch and eventually humus. Along with its ability to fix nitrogen, this shrub conditions the soil, preparing it for other plant species to come along.
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Where Does Mimosa Hostilis Grow?
In the Northern Hemisphere, Mimosa hostilis blossoms and produces fruit from November to June or July. However, in the Southern Hemisphere, it blooms mainly from September to January, while the fruit ripens from February to April.
In Brazil, the shrub grows in Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Pernambuco, and Bahia. While in Southern Mexico, you can find Mimosa hostilis in Oaxaca and the coast of Chiapas. Elsewhere in Latin America, the plant is native to El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela.
Mimosa hostilis is most often found in lower altitudes, although it can be found as high as 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
Medicinal Mimosa Hostilis Flower and Bark Uses
Tooth Pain
A 2006 study of medicinal plants in a rural community in Alagoinha, Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil found that a tea made of the leaves and stem of Mimosa hostilis is used to treat tooth pain.
Cough And Bronchitis
A 2007 study highlights that for cases of cough and bronchitis, a water extract (decoction) of Mimosa hostilis is drunk until the symptoms disappear. A handful of bark in one liter of water is used by itself or as syrup.
Venous Leg Uclerations
Another 2007 study — this time a clinical trial — discovered that Mimosa hostilis is effective in treating venous leg ulcerations.
The authors of the study state:
“Follow-up lasted 13 weeks and ulcer healing was determined through measurement of the lesion area by digital-photographic parameters. Therapeutic effectiveness occurred in all patients of the extract group; after the 8th treatment week, ulcer size was reduced by 92 percent as mean value in this group, whereas therapeutic effectiveness was observed only in one patient of the control group…No side effects were observed in any patient in either group.”
Entheogenic Uses Of Mimosa Hostilis
The Jeruma Cult (O Culto da Jurema) in northeastern Brazil uses Mimosa hostilis as an entheogen.
Mimosa hostilis root bark is traditionally used in northeastern Brazil in a psychoactive decoction called Jurema or Yurema. Other Mimosa varieties are included in the drink as well.
The traditional Amazonian sacrament ayahuasca is made using the leaves of Psychotria viridis and the vine of Banisteriopsis caapi. The latter contains harmala alkaloids — monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) — that allow the DMT contained in Psychotria viridis (or chacruna) to be orally active. If you consumed chacruna on its own, MAO in your body would break down the DMT and no psychoactive effects would occur.
However, to date, no harmala compounds have been detected in Mimosa hostilis decoctions.
This presents a challenge to understanding how DMT in the plant could be orally active. As we can see from the use of ayahuasca, ingested DMT requires the presence of an MAOI, such as a harmala alkaloid. If an MAOI is neither present in the plant nor added to the brew, MAO will metabolize DMT in the human gut, preventing the active molecule from entering the blood and brain.
Nonetheless, in 2005, researchers reported the isolation of the compound yuremamine from Mimosa hostilis. This alkaloid may explain an apparent oral activity of DMT in Jurema.
Mimosa hostilis is also used in the clandestine manufacture of crystalline DMT. Underground chemists may order Mimosa hostilis root bark and follow an extraction method for isolating DMT, which they can then sell for profit.
Psychonauts may do the same as above, but only for personal use, and perhaps to share the DMT experience with others.
How To Make The DMT In Mimosa Hostilis Orally Active
While consuming Mimosa hostilis with MAOIs is not a traditional form of ayahuasca, this will still result in the same kind of experience. Unlike smoking or vaporizing DMT, making the DMT in Mimosa hostilis orally active will lead to a longer and more introspective psychedelic journey.
You could create a brew consisting of Mimosa hostilis and Banisteriopsis caapi. Another option is to ingest an MAOI and then consume Mimosa hostilis root bark powder, or a drink made from the root bark.
There are other plants that contain MAOIs, with Syrian rue (Peganum harmala) being a popular option. The MAOI alkaloids in the plant, including the seeds, are harmine and harmaline, which are also found in Banisteriopsis caapi. The result of mixing Syrian rue seeds with Mimosa hostilis is an ayahuasca analog.
It’s also possible to create pharmahuasca using Mimosa hostilis. This is a pharmaceutical version of ayahuasca, which involves using a pharmaceutical MAOI instead of a plant.
Possible pharmahuasca preparations might involve Mimosa hostilis root bark powder with the addition of harmaline (extracted or synthesized).
DMT extracted from Mimosa hostilis can also be combined with harmaline and/or harmine. In this case, 50 mg DMT and 100 mg harmaline is usually the recommended dosage per person. However, combinations of 50 mg DMT, 50 mg harmaline, and 50 mg harmine can also work well.
As a rule, the fewer MAOIs, the less nausea; the more DMT, the more impressive the visions.
Typically, DMT and the MAOI are put into separate capsules. The capsules with harmaline/harmine are swallowed first and the capsules containing DMT are ingested 15-20 minutes later.
There are purely synthetic MAOIs that can be used in place of harmaline and harmine, although you need to be careful when it comes to choosing an alternative MAOI.
The use of moclobemide, a reversible MAOI antidepressant, has been recorded and is safer than older irreversible MAOIs (such as isocarboxazid). This is due to its significantly shorter and more selective effects. However, it still exhibits a wide range of possibly dangerous interactions with other drugs.
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The Ayahuasca/Pharmahuasca Experience
If you use Mimosa hostilis to create an ayahuasca analog or pharmahuasca, there are many different effects you may experience.
Physical Effects
Using pharmahuasca or an ayahuasca analog can have a range of possible physical effects, including the following:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Dilated pupils
- Increased heart rate
- Increased blood pressure
- Dizziness
- Nystagmus (rapid rhythmic movements of the eyes)
Perceptual Effects
As with other psychedelics, orally active DMT can affect your sensory perceptions, the way that things look, sound, and feel. But if you take a high enough dose, you may experience visions. Common visions include:
- Geometry
- Memories of events in your life, including traumatic or repressed memories
- Fantastical and otherworldly places
- Places in historical time
- Imagined points in the future
- The Earth and the kinds of events currently taking place on it
- Wildlife
- Animals
- Entities
Emotional Effects
Orally active DMT can induce various emotional states, which can be pleasant or unpleasant in nature. Emotional effects can include the following:
- A feeling of emotional release
- Better connecting to one’s emotions
- Empathy
- Compassion
- Joy
- Euphoria
- Bliss
- Ecstasy
- Contentment
- Peace
- Gratitude
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Dread
- Panic
- Despair
It should be noted that it is common to experience different emotional states during a single ayahuasca/pharmahuasca experience. These moments can include mental discomfort, as well as periods of elation or calmness.
Psychological Effects
One of the most powerful and healing aspects of an ayahuasca experience is the ability to think differently and take on new perspectives. The psychological effects of pharmahuasca or an ayahuasca analog include:
- Increased self-awareness
- Increased self-confidence and self-esteem
- Facing personal demons, such as negative thought patterns and behaviors, as well as past mistakes
- Reinterpreting conflicts within oneself and with others
- Deciding to make changes in one’s life
Spiritual Effects
Ayahuasca is a powerful psychedelic, and it is common for many people to experience mystical effects when taking it. These include:
- Making contact with “Mother Ayahuasca”, a motherly type presence that users feel imparts wisdom, lessons, messages, care, and healing. The messages are often ecological in nature, relating to the destruction of the planet and the need to protect the environment
- Out-of-body experiences
- Ego loss
- Feeling oneself transform into an animal
- A feeling of unity, such as feeling unified with all of humankind, the environment, or the entire universe
- A sense of being outside time and space
- Ineffability
- A sense of sacredness or the “divine”
Integrating An Ayahuasca Experience
The ayahuasca experience does, in a way, continue long after the psychedelic effects are over.
The experience also includes a period of integration, which is when you try to make sense of what happened during the experience. This includes finding meaning in certain visions, messages, or lessons. This might involve journaling, talking about the experience with others, or reading material that can help illuminate certain aspects of your journey.
Another important aspect of ayahuasca integration is applying the experience to your life. This might involve making changes to your:
- Relationships
- Lifestyle
- Career
- Habits
- Goals
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The DMT Experience
Most DMT that is solder by street dealers or on the dark web is extracted from Mimosa hostilis. This is because the extraction process is relatively simple to follow, and the equipment and ingredients needed can be easily purchased.
Synthetic DMT is not commonly available because this takes more skill, time, and harder-to-obtain ingredients and equipment.
If you smoke or vaporize DMT, the experience won’t be the same as ingesting an ayahuasca analog or pharmahuasca. Meeting entities on DMT is particularly common. Nonetheless, psychedelic users who have tried both do report some similarities, including interactions with entities.
Here are the possible effects of DMT.
The Onset
This is the period when the very first subjective effects appear. DMT has a rapid onset, occurring within 20 seconds after smoking or vaporizing the compound. The first noticeable changes that occur during the onset may include the following:
- Colors enhanced in your surroundings
- Objects appearing more vivid
- Seeing the appearance of geometric patterns around you
- Hearing a high-pitched whining or whirring sound
- Pre-trip anxiety melting away
The Come Up
The come up phase of a DMT trip is the period between the first noticeable subjective or perceptual changes and the point of greatest intensity. This stage occurs after 20 seconds to two minutes. When you are coming up on DMT, you will likely experience:
- A gradual loss of bodily awareness
- A high-pitched sound increasing in intensity
- Objects in the environment morphing
- The perception of more intricate and clearly defined geometric patterns. With eyes closed, these patterns can change at an incredible speed.
- A desire to close your eyes and immerse yourself in the experience as the peak approaches
- A sense of movement, like moving through a tunnel or moving upwards
- The sense of breaking into an alternate reality
The Peak
The peak phase of the DMT trip is when the intensity of the compound’s effects reaches its height. This stage occurs 2-5 minutes into the trip. The peak is when the most notable features of the DMT experience occur. This is also the stage that can be the most difficult to remember. DMT’s peak effects tend to have some key aspects.
Traveling Through Hyperspace
You can have the feeling of traveling through an alternate reality, which users describe as “hyperspace”. This different realm may take on the appearance of a circus, carnival, casino, room, temple, cathedral, mosque, futuristic or hi-tech environment, or alien world.
Hyperspace is a place astonishingly complex and extraordinary. Many users say it is ineffable, meaning that it is impossible to adequately describe it in words. Language simply cannot do it justice.
Some features of hyperspace may include distinctive geometric patterns and alien writing on surfaces, as well as unusual objects. You might also have the sense of traveling through this realm at an incredible speed or the realm itself changing rapidly.
Meeting Strange Entities
You may come into contact with strange entities. These entities may look like alien creatures, insects, elves, jesters, clowns, or circus entertainers. There may be a single entity or many of them. They are often being zany, friendly, loving, and inviting. They might have the intention of welcoming you to their world and wanting to show you around.
However, during a more challenging experience, these entities may appear hostile, both physically and in their demeanor and attitude toward your entry into the DMT realm.
The entities, like hyperspace, are known to transform rapidly, as well as quickly come in and out of view. They might make odd gestures and want to interact or communicate with you.
Mystical Effects
Just as with other psychedelics, the peak is when you will tend to experience mystical subjective effects. These may include the following:
- Out-of-body experiences. You may have the feeling that your consciousness is separate from your body and exists in a different dimension.
- Ego death. This is when you lose the sense of personal identity. You can have awareness of what you’re experiencing without feeling there is a “you” that is experiencing it.
- A feeling of oneness or interconnectedness. This often accompanies ego loss; there is a sense of being everything, such as the totality of the experience or even the entire universe.
- The feeling of timelessness (a state of eternal existence)
- The feeling of spacelessness (the feeling of existing in a place that is infinite, sometimes described as “the void”)
- A sense of the sacred, divine, or holy; or the feeling of meeting “God”
- Paradoxical experiences (e.g. the feeling of being everything and nothing at the same time)
- Ineffability
- The sense of gaining access to important truths about the nature of reality
Coming Down
The offset (or coming downs stage) of the DMT experience is the amount of time between the end of the peak and the return to your sober state. You can return to normal reality as quickly as you entered the DMT realm. During this phase, it is common to experience:
- Regaining the sense of your body and the outside world
- The return of your sense of self
- A slowing down and fading away of the visual aspect of the DMT trip
- Having the desire to open your eyes
- Seeing the outside world distorted when you open your eyes
- Strong feelings of awe, astonishment, and bewilderment about what you just experienced
- Difficulty remembering what you experienced
After Effects
The after effects are the residual effects that may remain after the DMT trip is over. Most users describe this as an “afterglow”, which may involve feelings like:
- Positive mood
- Peacefulness
- Contentment
- Gratitude
The Antidepressant Effect Of Mimosa Hostilis
Research shows that Mimosa hostilis can have an antidepressant effect.
A 2022 study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that an extract of Mimosa hostilis root bark produced an antidepressant-like effect in mice. The authors state, “This effect occurs possibly via activation of serotonergic systems, particularly the 5-HT2A/2C receptors.”
The Antidepressant Effect Of Ayahuasca
If you use Mimosa hostilis root bark to prepare an ayahuasca analog, you can also experience an antidepressant effect. There are several studies indicating that ayahuasca can effectively alleviate the symptoms of depression.
A 2021 study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders showed that 94 percent of survey respondents experienced some, great, or complete resolution of depression symptoms following ayahuasca use. However, this study relied on self-reporting, which can be unreliable and prone to bias.
A 2019 placebo-controlled study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, found that ayahuasca tea can cause rapid and significant antidepressant effects in people with treatment-resistant depression. People with this type of depression don’t experience relief when trying conventional treatments.
An earlier study from 2015 also highlighted how ayahuasca tea can act as an effective antidepressant. This research showed that ayahuasca can cause significant reductions in depressive symptoms in patients with recurrent depression for 2-3 weeks.
This is a type of depression characterized by intermittent depressive episodes. Patients with recurrent depression will recover from a depressive episode, only to experience another one later on.
While depressive symptoms may have returned, a 2018 follow-up study revealed most patients found the ayahuasca experience to be beneficial.
The Antidepressant Effect Of DMT
While many users find the DMT experience is less likely to be insightful and introspective than an ayahuasca journey, it can still improve people’s mental health. Researchers are now exploring how DMT can be used in the treatment of depression.
In 2021, Imperial College London, in conjunction with Small Pharma, conducted the world’s first clinical trial for the treatment of depression using DMT. Peter Rands, Small Pharma’s CEO, said:
“Whereas a psilocybin session takes all day — and if you’re doing two or even more of those, that’s a large time commitment — a DMT session, all in, will probably take under two hours. We expect DMT to be rapid-acting, equivalent or perhaps even better than psilocybin, so within hours of a session you will get rapid relief [from your depression]. We also expect the effect to be sustained over a similar time period.”
Is Mimosa Hostilis Root Bark Legal?
Despite the fact that Mimosa hostilis root bark contains DMT, a controlled substance in most countries, it is still legal to sell, purchase, and possess. You can legally order Mimosa hostilis root bark whole, shredded, or as a powder.
Mimosa hostilis is legal to cultivate, sell, possess, and use in the U.S., the UK, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands.
However, extracting the DMT contained in Mimosa hostilis root bark powder is illegal. If you do this in the U.S., for example, you would then possess a Schedule I controlled substance. This can entail the harshest legal punishments.
If extracting DMT from Mimosa hostilis and selling the drug (or intending to), you risk a sentence of as much as 15 years in prison, as well as a fine of up to $250,000.
Where Can You Buy Mimosa Hostilis Root Bark?
You can buy Mimosa hostilis root bark from a number of vendors in the U.S., the UK, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands. Many of these vendors will import Mimosa hostilis root bark powder from Brazil or another country in Latin America where the tree grows in the wild.
When buying Mimosa hostilis root bark, always make sure that the vendor is highly reputable and well-reviewed. The product should be 100 percent sustainable, unprocessed, quality tested, and without any chemical additives.
Mimosa hostilis root bark powder can come in a finely powdered form. This can have the consistency of very fine flour.
Be sure to research different vendors before choosing one. Vendors will differ in the quality of their products, prices, shipping time, delivery success rate, and how discreet their packaging is. Choosing a well-respected vendor will give you peace of mind when making your order. This is especially important if you want to order large quantities of Mimosa hostilis root bark.
