The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Biancaea decapetala
Also called Cat's Claw, Mauritius Thorn, Mysorethorn, Thorny Poinciana, Wait A While, Woody Wait A While
Shoofly is a thorny, evergreen, climbing or shrubby tree-like plant from India and southeast Asia that forms dense thickets and is invasive in many warm regions. It is not usually grown as a garden or houseplant, so care is mainly about containing its spread.
Biancaea decapetala, commonly known as shoofly, Mauritius or Mysore thorn or the cat's claw, is a tropical tree species originating in India.
Mauritius Thorn has been employed in primate conservation to dissuade apes from entering farmland in West Africa. However, this is no longer suggested due to its invasive nature.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Biancaea decapetala by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
