A plant medicine known as Tree of Happiness tells you all you need to know about what this traditional Chinese medicine is used for.  Albizia Julibrissin, also known as silk tree, or mimosa is the owner of this auspicious name.   The tree is  native to China and often planted as an ornamental in other parts of the world, although it is listed as an invasive in some States.  It thrives in balmy climates, and was in peak bloom when I was in the South of France in June, where the flowering tree seemed to be around every corner!

It’s at the end of its flowering on the East Coast, where I find it infrequently dotted around the City in unlikely places, and for the west coasters, there’s a few more days to go until it’s harvest time. The candy floss pink blooms and the bark are the parts we use for medicine, but given the time of year, I am focusing on the flowers.

Mimosa is used to calm the mind and turn down the volume on negative emotions that might cause agitation or anger. As a remedy, it transforms the density of stagnant depression and levels out mood swings and pms to neutral. It can be useful for insomnia related to depression, and pairs well with other heart opening herbs like rose, hawthorn and linden.  When crying is all you can do, and you are done with the tears, a spoonful or two of mimosa tincture will turn off the internal emotional faucet.

I first got to know this medicine personally in a friend’s oasis of a garden in Ashland, Oregon in 2016. It was late August, and the blooms were past their best, but we teetered on her garden wall anyway, to salvage what we could from the lowest branches, and I harvested enough for a 16oz jar of tincture, which was a prized treasure from that trip.

The flowers are sticky, and have a soapy sweet fragrance which transfers into the tincture, giving an idea of how it might taste in food.  I  had a full 2 weeks of flower picking to ruminate on what else I could do with my pink bounty. My tree “muse” was right next to our apartment in Antibes, so I was literally bathing in albizia.  I drank the fresh flower infusion, made the flower essence, bottled syrups, pressed the flowers, and infused the coveted tincture.   I kept thinking the flowers would taste great with peaches in something cooling and refreshing, so that was the start of the recipe journey for “your bowl of happiness”.

Granitas are a fancy shaved ice, and this is an adapted recipe from a wine infused granita that my mum used to make around the holidays, when I was younger.  It couldn’t be simpler, and ideally starts with an infusion of the fresh flowers, although dried flowers will work.

20g fresh mimosa flowers
2 cups of boiled water
1 fresh ripe peach
Zest of 1 lemon
4 teaspoons of grappa liquor, or lemon juice
3 teaspoons of coconut sugar
Shallow dish to freeze the granita
A metal fork

Method:
Pick fresh mimosa flowers, and remove any stem. Lay the fresh flowers on a tray for an hour to allow any nectar loving critters a chance to disperse. Then, infuse the blooms in 2 cups of freshly boiled water, in a covered vessel for 30 minutes.  Strain out the flowers, and blend the reserved liquid with a freshly peeled chopped peach, the zested lemon, the grappa/lemon, and the coconut sugar. Pour the blended liquid in to a shallow dish, so that the level is no more than 1/2” deep and place in the freezer. As the liquid starts to freeze, gently rake it with a fork. Once it is fully frozen, and completely raked,  divide the granita into small se bowls or wine glasses and serve as a light dessert.

Note: The minimal addition of grappa adds a real spark to the mix, but the lemon will do the trick in a pinch.

*If you don’t have access to fresh flowers, visit a Chinese Herb shop and buy the dried flowers, which are known as (He Huan Hua). The dried flowers will be a less fragrant substitute, and may not have the same medicinal vitality, but it’s worth a try! Use 8g of dried flowers in place of the 20g of fresh flowers.

Kamwo in NYC’s Chinatown usually stock the dried flowers.

Stay cool and let me know what you think!

Upcoming Events

Build A Herbal First Aid Kit starts on 8/9/22 @ NYBG.
Medicine Making in The Park, 8/13/22-9/3/22. Learn More
Herbal Mocktails and Cocktails on 9/12/22 @ Brooklyn Grange

Stay tuned for more fall class listings at NYBG, Brooklyn Grange, and online at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, plus more.