Calliandra angustifolia — an Amazonian dieta plant with a heart-opening reputation, no established psychedelic action, and no controlled-substance status in the US.
Calliandra angustifolia is a small leguminous tree or shrub — family Fabaceae, the same family as mimosa and acacia — that grows along riverbanks and seasonally flooded ground in the Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Colombian, and Brazilian Amazon. It carries distinctive pink-red filamentous flowers. The Shipibo-Konibo of the Ucayali call it semein and prepare a bark tincture used traditionally for rheumatism, arthritis, colds, uterine complaints, and edema.
In contemporary retreat settings it is best known as one of the plants taken during a master plant dieta — often the first plant offered to a visitor, on the grounds that it is considered gentle relative to plants like chiric sanango.
| Bobinsana | |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Calliandra angustifolia (Fabaceae) |
| Other names | Semein (Shipibo), bobinzana, balata |
| Part used | Bark, sometimes leaves and flowers |
| Traditional use | Rheumatism and arthritis, colds, wound care, uterine complaints, edema; dieted as a plant teacher |
| US legal status | Not scheduled federally or by any state |
| Documented psychedelic action | None established |
| Clinical evidence in humans | None — the record is ethnobotanical and preclinical |
Not in the way that word is normally used. Bobinsana on its own does not reliably produce visions, perceptual distortion, or ego dissolution. What people consistently describe instead is a warm physical sensation in the chest, emotional openness or tearfulness, and markedly more vivid dreaming over days of repeated use. In Amazonian practice it is valued as heart-opening and grounding, and it is sometimes added to ayahuasca ceremonies as a supporting plant rather than taken for its own effect.
About the "bobinsana contains DMT" claim. A widely-cited ethnobotanical reference reports that Calliandra angustifolia has been found to contain harmane and N,N-DMT. This claim propagates across vendor sites and forums, but it has not been confirmed by rigorous modern phytochemical analysis; the quantities implied would be trace at most, and people who have specifically attempted alkaloid extraction generally report finding nothing of consequence. Published phytochemical work on the species describes pipecolic acid derivatives, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and sterols.
The legal implication is worth stating precisely, because it is the part people get wrong: the plant is not scheduled, but any preparation that actually contains DMT is Schedule I regardless of which plant it came from. Nothing about bobinsana's unscheduled status would protect a preparation made or marketed as a DMT source.
Yes, in the United States. Calliandra angustifolia is absent from the federal Controlled Substances Act schedules and from state controlled-substance schedules, including Louisiana's hallucinogenic-plant statute (La. R.S. 40:989.1), which lists roughly forty plants but not this one. The Federal Analogue Act reaches substances structurally and pharmacologically similar to scheduled drugs; no constituent of bobinsana has been treated that way.
It is sold in the US as a botanical, which places it under the dietary supplement framework rather than drug law. That framework does not verify identity, potency, or purity before sale — so "legal" here means "not prohibited," not "tested."
These two get compared constantly because both are Fabaceae with fluffy filamentous flowers, and the comparison matters legally. Mimosa tenuiflora (mimosa hostilis) root bark is a well-documented DMT-containing plant, and preparations made from it fall squarely under Schedule I. Bobinsana has no established DMT content and no comparable legal exposure. Botanically similar; legally not equivalent.
Very little has been studied in humans. Nothing below is a dosing recommendation, and this site does not publish preparation instructions for psychoactive plants.
Not in the usual sense. Bobinsana on its own does not reliably produce visions, perceptual distortion, or ego dissolution. What people describe is warmth in the chest, emotional openness, and vivid dreaming over days of repeated use. In Amazonian practice it is valued as heart-opening and grounding, and is sometimes added to ayahuasca ceremonies as a supporting plant rather than taken for its own effect.
There is no confirmed evidence that it does. A widely cited ethnobotanical reference reports harmane and N,N-DMT in Calliandra angustifolia, but that claim has not been confirmed by rigorous modern phytochemical analysis, the implied quantities would be trace at most, and reported extraction attempts find nothing of consequence. Published work on the species describes pipecolic acid derivatives, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and sterols.
Yes, in the United States. Calliandra angustifolia does not appear on the federal Controlled Substances Act schedules or on any state schedule, including Louisiana's hallucinogenic-plant statute. It is sold as a botanical under the dietary supplement framework, which means it is not prohibited — not that it is tested for identity, potency, or purity.
They are both Fabaceae with fluffy filamentous flowers, which is why they get compared, but they are not legally equivalent. Mimosa tenuiflora (mimosa hostilis) root bark is a well-documented DMT-containing plant, so preparations made from it fall under Schedule I. Bobinsana has no established DMT content and no comparable legal exposure.
Very little has been studied in humans, and no dose is established. The interaction risk is mostly contextual: bobinsana is usually taken in settings that also involve ayahuasca, whose MAOI harmala alkaloids interact dangerously with SSRIs, SNRIs, tricyclics, lithium, triptans, tramadol, and tyramine-rich foods. Avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding — traditional use includes uterine indications and there are no safety data.
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