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 |
People use bobinsana primarily in traditional Amazonian medicine and structured retreat settings, though no clinical trials in humans confirm any medical benefit or therapeutic effect. Ethnobotanical records compiled in the Raintree technical report document traditional bark infusions and tinctures for rheumatism, arthritis, colds, edema, uterine complaints, and wound care. The Shipibo-Konibo also diet the bark as a plant teacher during a master plant dieta.
Seller sites and forums claim bobinsana helps with skin, sleep, anxiety, and grief. Some also present the traditional "heart-opening" description as a medical effect. No study on our record tests bobinsana for any of these, so treat each one as a seller's claim.
No study on our record documents side effects in humans. The known precautions (pregnancy, breastfeeding, monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) interactions, and the dieta itself) are listed under Safety.
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."
US drug law does not prohibit buying, possessing, or growing bobinsana, and it is sold in the forms below. A rapé blend is the exception to watch, because it falls under tobacco rules:
In the US, bobinsana products are sold as botanicals under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules bar a seller from claiming that a supplement treats or cures a disease. The FDA has evaluated no health claim printed on a bobinsana label.
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.
Bobinsana, blue lotus, cacao, and kanna are not classical psychedelics, and all four are legal under US federal law. Louisiana is the one state exception, where blue lotus is Schedule I.
| Plant | What it is | Documented psychoactive action | US legal status | Common form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobinsana (Calliandra angustifolia) | Amazon riverbank shrub | None established | Unscheduled federally and across all fifty states | Bark tea, tincture, powder, or capsules |
| Blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) | Dried flower botanical | No classical psychedelic action | Federally unscheduled; Schedule I in Louisiana | Dried flower for tea or smoking |
| Ceremonial cacao (Theobroma cacao) | Food product | Mild stimulation from theobromine | Not a controlled substance | Chocolate or cacao drink |
| Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum) | South African succulent | Serotonin reuptake inhibition without hallucinations | Federally unscheduled dietary supplement ingredient | Dried herb for chewing or smoking |
Kanna carries a distinct interaction risk because it acts on serotonin reuptake. Anyone taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or drinking MAOI brews such as ayahuasca should check kanna in the medication safety checker first. Read our legal psychedelic products guide for more on the legal status of blue lotus and kanna.
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.
Bobinsana is used in traditional Amazonian medicine for physical ailments like rheumatism, and in ceremonial settings as a dieted plant teacher. Documented indigenous preparations use bark infusions or tinctures for arthritis, colds, edema, wound care, and uterine complaints. In ceremonies and master plant dietas, participants diet the shrub for emotional openness and vivid dreaming, as outlined at /guides/master-plant-dieta. Clinical evidence does not support any of these uses. There is no established dose.
Bobinsana (Calliandra angustifolia) grows along riverbanks and seasonally flooded ground in the Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Colombian, and Brazilian Amazon. Bobinsana is a shrub or small tree in the Fabaceae family with pink-red filamentous flowers. The Shipibo name for the plant is semein.
Yes. US drug law does not prohibit buying, possessing, or growing Calliandra angustifolia, because the plant is on no federal or state controlled-substance schedule. Bobinsana products are sold as dietary supplements, so a seller may not claim they treat or cure a disease.
No standardized bobinsana ceremony is documented. People usually mean one of two things: a master plant dieta, or bobinsana as a supporting plant in an ayahuasca ceremony. A master plant dieta (sama in Shipibo) is an apprenticeship practice in which one plant is taken under a maestro's guidance, with isolation and strict restriction for weeks or months, covered in our master plant dieta guide. In the second case, ayahuasca contains DMT and is Schedule I in the US.
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