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Planting
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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.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 10–12
- Soil
- Sand · Loam
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Vine- Soil pH
- 5.2–7.7
- Plant type
- Vine
- Mature height
- 98.4 ft
- Mature spread
- Not yet recorded
- Plant spacing
- 9.8–13.1 ft
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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Betel
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Bitter Melon
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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