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Uncaria is a genus of about 40 woody climbing vines (lianas) in the coffee family, mostly native to tropical Asia. Members climb using hooked branches, and they are rarely grown as houseplants; they are mainly known for their use in tanning and traditional medicine.
Uncaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It has about 40 species. Their distribution is pantropical, with most species native to tropical Asia, three from Africa and the Mediterranean and two from the neotropics. They are known colloquially as gambier, cat's claw or uña de gato. The latter two names are shared with several other plants. The type species for the genus is Uncaria guianensis.
Indonesian Gambier (U. gambir) is a large tropical vine with leaves typical of the genus, being opposite and about 10 cm (3.9 in) long. The South American U. tomentosa is called Uña de Gato. Uncaria sinensis is common in China.
Although cat's claw appears to be safe for human use below 350 milligrams per day over 6 weeks, its adverse effects may include nausea, diarrhea, upset stomach, and an increased risk of bleeding if used with an anticoagulant drug.
Diplomat Edmund Roberts noted that, upon his visit to China in the 1830s, Chinese were using U. gambir for tanning, and noted that the U. gambir made "leather porous and rotten." He also noted that Chinese would chew it with areca nut. The plant extract contains some 150 identified phytochemicals, including catechins, proanthocyanins, and chalcone-flavan-3-ol dimers, called gambiriins. Cat's claw (U. tomentosa) and the Chinese Uncaria species are used in traditional medicine, although there is no high-quality clinical evidence they have any medicinal properties.
Cat's Claw · Uncaria perrottetii · Uncaria rhynchophylla · Cat's Claw
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Uncaria 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.
