The Mayans’ “skin tree”
Mimosa tenuiflora, otherwise known as tepezcohuite or the Mayans’ “skin tree”, is a shrub that grows in Central America, in the Mexican state of Chiapas, on a narrow strip of land located between 800 and 1000 metres above sea level. Indigenous traditions report of the bark powder’s magical effects on healing wounds. The 985 Mexico City earthquake, and the shortage in medicine that followed, brought the therapeutic properties of this “skin tree” back into the spotlight. It is now recognised as part of the country’s national heritage. Through its healing properties, it has demonstrated the exceptional ability to restore damaged epidermis.