Albizia julibrissin is a non-native species, known by a wide variety of common names, such as Persian silk tree or pink siris. Originally from China, the mimosa tree is also called Lenkoran acacia or bastard tamarind, though it is not too closely related to either genus. Although once included in Mimosa, it is not very close to the Mimoseae.
Albizia julibrissin is a species of legume in the genus Albizia, native to southwestern and eastern Asia, from Persia east to China and Korea.The genus is honoring the Italian nobleman Filippo degli Albizzi, an 18th century Italian naturalist, who introduced the genus to Italy in 1749. Albizzi belonged to the famous Florentine Albizzi family, who introduced the tree to Europe in the mid-18th century. It is likely that the specific epithet julibrissin is a corruption of the Persian word gul-i abrisham (گل ابریشم) which means “silk flower” (from gul گل “flower” + abrisham ابریشم “silk”).
The mimosa tree, Albizia julibrissin, is a is an inversive plant now found in much of the U.S., both as a beautiful ornamental plant and as an undesired invasive species. Some parts of the plant are poisonous and of concern to livestock and pets and even humans.