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Mimosa hostilis 'Premium'
|  Botanical name: Mimosa hostilis ‘Premium'
Also known as: Mimosa tenuiflora, jurema preta
Family name: Leguminosae
Natural habitat: Southern Mexico, Central America, Venezuela and Brazil
The history of the Mimosa hostilis plant goes far back to pre-Columbian times. Especially in Brazil there was a real jurema cult. Drinks were made from the Mimosa hostilis to induce a shamanic state of consciousness. These drinks were called Ajuca or Veueka. Unfortunately the exact recipes from these drinks are not known. The jurema cult in South America was almost extinct; mostly due the destruction of indigenous cultures. Luckily these days the interest in Mimosa hostilis is rising again
The rootbark of the Mimosa hostilis concentrates many different tryptamines, such as triterpene saponins and steroid saponins. Another famous alkaloid which is present is N,N-DMT. This makes the rootbark of the Mimosa hostilis a favorite additive for the sacred Indian medicine Ayahuasca.
Mimosa hostilis is also used for other purposes. In Mexico the bark of the tree is used under the name tepezcohuite as a remedy for skin problems and injuries such as burns. The wood of the tree is also used in fence construction. The Aztecs already used it for those purposes and called it tepus-cuahuitl, which means “metal-tree”, referencing to the extremely hard wood.
Mimosa hostilis is a perennial evergreen shrub that can become, in its adult life, no less than 8 meters high. At the firm branches, provided with mean thorns, grow a lot of feather - or fernlike leaves of a beautiful, bright green color. Mimosa hostilis flourishes abundantly with a number of fragrant white ‘ears’. The pods that follow are round and fall when ripe dividing themselves in 4 up to 6 sections. A part of the roots of the Mimosa hostilis are growing above the surface, these are fibrous and fragile, and generally have a beautiful pink color. | | 
| |  Menu: Ayahuasca / Ayahuasca
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