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Mimosa
The pretty pink-flowered 'silktree' is a fast, short-lived, weak-wooded invasive that reseeds heavily along roadsides and streambanks and resprouts when cut. Never plant it; this entry is for identifying and controlling it.
Safety notes Mimosa is grown for its flowers, not food. Its seeds and pods contain a neurotoxin and are poisonous to livestock, dogs, and other animals if eaten, so keep pods and seeds away from children and pets. Its wood is weak and brittle, so mature trees drop limbs and split in storms - treat aging trees near homes and cars as a hazard. The bigger problem is ecological: it is a fast-reseeding invasive that crowds out natives along roadsides and streambanks. Do not plant it.
Overview
Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin), also called silktree, is a small, fast-growing tree beloved for its feathery foliage and fragrant pink summer 'powderpuff' flowers - and it's a genuine invasive that you should never plant. Introduced from Asia as an ornamental, it has escaped across the Southeast and beyond, lining roadsides, streambanks, fencerows, and forest edges with dense seedlings and crowding out native plants.
It's a poor tree on several counts beyond the invasion. It reseeds prolifically, its seeds persist in the soil for years, and it resprouts vigorously when cut, making it hard to remove. Its wood is weak and brittle, so mature trees are short-lived and prone to dropping limbs and splitting in storms. Most mimosas are killed young by mimosa wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. perniciosum), a soilborne vascular disease that yellows, wilts, and kills established trees in a season or two and then persists in the soil for years - but a dead tree is not the end of the infestation, because the seed bank remains. And its seeds and pods are toxic to livestock and pets. The pink flowers are undeniably pretty, but they're not worth the trouble - and there are lovely native flowering trees that do the job without the downsides. This entry is here to help you recognize and control mimosa, and to point you toward better choices.
The one thing to knowMimosa (Albizia julibrissin), also called silktree, is a small, fast-growing tree beloved for its feathery foliage and fragrant pink summer 'powderpuff' flowers - and it's a genuine invasive that you should never plant.
Quick facts
For identification. Not a growing guide.
- Height
- 25 ftRange: 15–40 ft
- Spread
- 25 ftRange: 15–40 ft
- Cold
- Takes hard frostdamaged below -10°F
- Heat
- Struggles above 105°F
- Life cycle
- Perennial, lives about 20 years
- Self-sows
- Yes. Never let it set seed.
- Habitat
- Full sun · Part sun, well-drained soil
Through the year
A field guide through time
Explore the stages to recognize this plant throughout its life.
Stage 1 of 3 · The recurring year
Fern-like foliage (identify & control)
Apr to Oct, every year
Know this stage
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Recognize it: feathery bipinnate leaves, vase-shaped tree
Mimosa is a small, fast-growing tree with a broad, flat-topped, vase-like crown and large, feathery, fern-like leaves twice-divided into many tiny leaflets that fold up at night and in rain. It's often multi-trunked, with smooth gray bark. A small tree with tropical-looking feathery foliage along a roadside or fence line is very likely mimosa.
-
Pull seedlings, cut-stump-treat larger trees (it resprouts)
Hand-pull or dig seedlings and saplings when soil is moist, getting the roots. For larger trees, cut and immediately treat the stump with herbicide (cut-stump), or use basal-bark treatment - cutting or mowing alone triggers vigorous resprouting and root sprouts. Remove trees before the pods mature so they can't reseed.
Months are typical seasonal windows; climate, variety, and plant age can shift them.
Watch out for
5 to know. 3 are high-risk: Long-Lived Seed Bank & Resprouting, Edge & Streambank Colonization (ecological harm), Mimosa Wilt (Fusarium). 3 are active in October.
Long-Lived Seed Bank & ResproutingSeverity High DisordernowSeason: Sep–AprRepeated seedling flushes after a parent tree is gone, new trees along streams after high water, and multiple sprouts after cutting.
Repeated seedling flushes after a parent tree is gone, new trees along streams after high water, and multiple sprouts after cutting.
Cut-stump/basal-bark to kill roots, remove seed sources, and persist against seedling flushes until the seed bank is exhausted.
Remove trees before pods mature; don't dump pods or seed-laden debris; kill roots rather than just cutting.
Why it's hard to eradicate: mimosa produces abundant, long-lived seed that persists in the soil for years and is spread by water, and cut trees resprout from the stump and send up root sprouts, so seedling flushes and regrowth continue long after removal.
Edge & Streambank Colonization (ecological harm)Severity High DisordernowSeason: Apr–OctFast mimosa seedlings and stands with feathery foliage colonizing sunny disturbed edges and streambanks, spreading outward from parent trees.
Fast mimosa seedlings and stands with feathery foliage colonizing sunny disturbed edges and streambanks, spreading outward from parent trees.
Cut-stump or basal-bark herbicide on larger trees (they resprout if only cut), pull seedlings, and follow up for years against the seed bank.
Never plant it; remove flowering and pod-bearing trees before they seed; clear seedlings early.
The core hazard is ecological: mimosa forms fast, dense stands along roadsides, forest edges, fencerows, and especially streambanks and floodplains, crowding out native grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, and tree seedlings and converting diverse habitat into low-value thickets.
Mimosa Wilt (Fusarium)Severity High DiseaseSeason: May–SepLeaves yellowing, wilting, and dropping - often on one side or one limb first, then through the whole crown - on a tree that looked healthy the year before; brown streaking in the sapwood when a wilted branch is cut open; whole-crown dieback in midsummer.
Widely and mistakenly read as the tree simply being short-lived. If a mature mimosa collapses over a season or two, this is usually why.
Leaves yellowing, wilting, and dropping - often on one side or one limb first, then through the whole crown - on a tree that looked healthy the year before; brown streaking in the sapwood when a wilted branch is cut open; whole-crown dieback in midsummer.
No cure. Remove the dead or dying tree, and keep after the seedlings: a wilt-killed parent does nothing about the long-lived seed bank it has already laid down, so control continues regardless.
There is nothing practical to spray or prevent. Do not replant a mimosa (or expect one to survive) in soil where a mimosa has already wilted - the fungus stays put.
The single biggest reason mimosas die young across their US range: a soilborne vascular wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. perniciosum) that enters through the roots and plugs the tree's water-conducting vessels, yellowing and wilting the crown and killing an established tree in one or two seasons. The fungus persists in the soil for years afterward.
Weak Wood & Toxic SeedsSeverity Medium DisordernowSeason: year-roundLimb drop and splitting on aging trees near homes or cars; livestock, pets, or children near the pods and seeds.
Limb drop and splitting on aging trees near homes or cars; livestock, pets, or children near the pods and seeds.
Remove hazardous trees; for ingestion of seeds/pods, contact poison control or a veterinarian.
Don't plant them; remove aging trees before they fail; keep pods and seeds away from animals and children.
Direct hazards beyond the invasion: mimosa's wood is weak and brittle, so mature trees drop limbs and split in storms, and its seeds and pods contain a neurotoxin poisonous to livestock, dogs, and other animals if eaten.
Mimosa WebwormSeverity Medium PestSeason: Jun–SepLeaflets tied together in loose silk nests at the branch tips, browned and skeletonized foliage inside the webbing, and small caterpillars dropping on threads when disturbed.
Leaflets tied together in loose silk nests at the branch tips, browned and skeletonized foliage inside the webbing, and small caterpillars dropping on threads when disturbed.
Prune out and destroy webbed shoots. Damage is disfiguring rather than fatal - it does not remove the need to control the tree.
Little is worth doing on a tree you are removing anyway; on trees awaiting removal, clip out and destroy the first webbed tips before the second generation builds.
The classic insect pest of mimosa (and honeylocust): small caterpillars that web the feathery leaflets together and skeletonize them inside the shelter, browning whole branch tips by late summer. Two generations a year in warm regions, so damage compounds through the season.
Grower tips
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