Plant · P-927

Cats Claw

Uncaria tomentosa

Cat's Claw is a woody, thorny climbing vine of the South American rainforest, its curved, claw-like spines letting it scramble high into the canopy on other trees. Its root and stem bark are harvested for an immune-modulating extract long used in South American traditional medicine and now sold worldwide as a supplement, alongside a drinkable stem sap used as a refreshing tonic. It wants dappled shade to partial sun and consistently moist, well-drained ground, and its stems are not cut for bark until the plant has had at least eight years to establish.