Dolichandra unguis-cati

Cultivation Details

Dolichandra unguis-cati is a very tolerant plant, growing in a wide variety of habitats in the American tropics at elevations from near sea level to over 600 metres. It is found in regions that receive a mean annual rainfall within the range of 750 - 2,400mm. The species can tolerate a few degrees of frost, being killed back to the ground but usually resprouting afterward^[1]. The plant will tolerate most soils, except very poorly drained and salty soils^[1]. Cat’s claw is moderately shade tolerant as a young plant and grows in both full sun and under dense forest canopies. It may be less shade tolerant as an adult^{[2, 1]}. Dolichandra unguis-cati is often grown as an ornamental. It produces prodigious amounts of easily spread seeds in long, thin, brown seedpods and has escaped from cultivation in several areas where it has become established in the wild. It also has an extensive root system and produces a large tuber at about 50cm intervals along the lateral roots. Both young and old plants produce these tubers^[1]. Each tuber produces new stems that climb into the surrounding vegetation or grow as a ground cover along the forest floor of scrub remnants. It can form a thick carpet of stems and leaves which chokes out small existing plants and stops the germination of all species. The large climbing stems reach to the top of the rainforest canopy where, through a combination of weight and shading, they can cause the eventual death of the largest canopy trees^[2]. The plant can survive grazing and fire, but is eliminated by deep grass swards^[1].