Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Albizia julibrissin
Also known as Silk Tree Bark
Pronounced Mimosa: mih-MOH-suh. Albizia julibrissin: al-BIZ-ee-uh joo-lih-BRISS-in. He Huan Pi: huh hwahn pee.
Neutral and balanced: a sweet, gentle relaxing nervine that loosens emotional constraint, calms an agitated spirit, and moves stuck blood, the 'happiness bark' for grief, worry, and tension.
Avoid in pregnancy. Albizia bark (He Huan Pi) invigorates the blood (huo xue), and blood-moving herbs are classically contraindicated in pregnancy; Herbal Reality states that 'caution should be taken when pregnant as it invigorates blood,' and TCM materia medica sources advise caution or avoidance in pregnancy (American Dragon: 'Use caution during pregnancy'). Reliable human safety data in pregnancy are lacking, so the prudent, consumer-safe course is to avoid therapeutic doses of the bark and flower in pregnancy unless supervised by a qualified practitioner.
Insufficient data; avoid therapeutic doses during lactation without professional guidance. There is no reliable human safety data on Albizia bark or flower in breastfeeding, and the passage of its constituents into milk is unstudied; Herbal Reality advises consulting a medical herbalist before use in pregnancy or lactation. Given its sedative and serotonergic activity, avoid concentrated medicinal doses while nursing unless supervised.
No established pediatric dosing or safety data; use therapeutically only under professional guidance. Albizia has a gentle traditional profile, but there is no controlled data on medicinal doses in children, and its sedative and serotonergic actions warrant caution. Reserve therapeutic use in children to qualified practitioner oversight; do not use it to self-treat a child's significant mood, sleep, or behavioral condition in place of evaluation.
He Huan Pi and He Huan Hua are gentle, well-tolerated herbs with a long record of safe traditional use. Because the bark invigorates the blood, it is classically avoided in pregnancy. It has mild sedative activity and can cause drowsiness, so use care when alertness is required and when combining with sedatives or alcohol. Modern research shows the herb acts on serotonergic pathways (inhibiting the serotonin transporter and acting at 5-HT1A receptors), so caution and professional guidance are warranted when combining with antidepressant or other serotonergic medication. Large doses of the saponin-rich bark may cause mild digestive upset. For significant emotional or psychiatric conditions it is best used in formula and under guidance, not as a self-directed substitute for care.
Pregnancy (blood-invigorating action, classically avoided). Known allergy to Albizia. Concurrent use of sedative or CNS-depressant drugs, or of serotonergic (antidepressant) drugs, without professional oversight. Active bleeding or a marked bleeding tendency (blood-moving action). Frank qi, blood, or yang deficiency without any stagnation, where a dispersing herb used alone is inappropriate. Not a substitute for the evaluation and treatment of major depression, suicidal ideation, or serious psychiatric illness.
Albizia julibrissin is abundant and in no way at risk; it is not listed by United Plant Savers. It is in fact an aggressive, fast-spreading invasive across the southeastern and mid-Atlantic United States and other warm regions, readily colonizing roadsides and disturbed ground. Harvesting bark and flowers from naturalized or invasive stands is ecologically beneficial, and cultivated trees are common, so responsibly sourced material is easy to obtain. Take bark from prunings or removed trees rather than girdling living specimens.
Not in the canonical biblical texts nor in the classical Greco-Roman herbals; the silk tree is native to Asia, not the ancient Near East, and enters the record through Chinese medicine. Its earliest medicinal reference is in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Han dynasty, c. 200 CE) under the name He Huan ('collective happiness'). Cited honestly as a herb of the Chinese medical tradition rather than of Scripture.
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