What Is Mimosa Hostilis Bark Used For? Discover Its Uses

Within each country, throughout history, its cultural heritage has evolved with a large number of customs and traditions that maintain the identity of its culture engraved in its imprint. This means that each of these regions has taken advantage of the resources offered by their lands in different ways over the years.

Mimosa hostilis, also popularly known as Mimosa tenuiflora, is one of those resources that the inhabitants of the territories where it grows have known how to take advantage of, so that the uses that have been discovered over time have been integrated into the culture of the populations that enjoyed and continue to enjoy its benefits and utilities.

What is the bark of Mimosa Hostilis?

Mimosa tenuiflora, which is also synonymous with mimosa hostilis, is a species of thorny tree with reddish-brown bark that reaches 4 to 6 meters in height and grows throughout the Americas. It also goes by the names of:

Jurema
Jurema preta
Catinga
Tepezcohuite

This varies depending on the region.

It is a species whose natural distribution is found in several areas of Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia and Brazil. Its bark is used differently in each of these countries, as it has various properties within the contents of its root and can serve multiple purposes and needs.

How mimosa hostilis bark is used

Its most popular uses change within each region in which it is found and therefore it is preferable to show each of the uses given to the bark in the different places where its characteristics are exploited.

Mexico

It is said that the curative use of mimosa hostilis became popular in Mexico in the 1980s, although it was already being used and its application was rooted in traditional recipes. Its uses are quite varied within the Mexican territory, ranging from being used as a construction material for fences to protect crops and as firewood, to cure burns, skin problems or other conditions.

The properties of the root of mimosa hostilis allow to accelerate the healing of affected areas of the skin due to wounds or burns. It is also capable of treating skin conditions such as fungus, blemishes, wrinkles and pimples. On the other hand, it also serves to combat hair loss, and even treat vaginal itching or inflammation and slow down skin aging.

Central America

In these regions the agro-forestry use of the bark of the tree stands out. In El Salvador and Honduras its wood is widely used as fuel and has been called black charcoal. In certain parts of El Salvador its use as firewood is preferred over other plants, since mimosa hostilis is more abundant and produces greater quantities of charcoal. It is also used to make construction material or as animal fodder.

On the other hand, in El Salvador the root extract is also widely used as a liquid that helps in the healing of peptic ulcers or to treat dental problems.

Brazil

In Brazil the mimosa tenuiflora tree is better known by the name jurema. Several indigenous groups of the territory use its bark for rituals and it is considered by these same groups as a sacred plant to which they have enormous respect. However, its religious use is not the only one, since in other areas it is used as fuel or construction material.

Mimosa Hostilis bark preparations

We already know that the bark of mimosa hostilis is multipurpose and what it is used for in the healing area, but not how it is applied. The recipes may be different depending on the purpose for which the root extract is intended:

For skin pimples: prepare an infusion with a piece of mimosa hostilis and copalchi in half a liter of water and apply on the skin for 10 to 15 minutes.
For wounds or burns: the bark of the tree is boiled for 10 or 15 minutes and then applied as a fomentation on the affected area, although the wounds are also washed with the warm infusion.
For intimate use in women: with the boiled bark, it is used to give external washes in intimate areas and treat vaginal itching and irritation.

In summary, Mimosa Hostilis has many different uses all over the world. However, many of these different uses involve using the root bark of the tree for different medicinal application involving the treatment of many different skin conditions.