PlantFiles: Cat's Claw
Macfadyena unguis-cati

Noxious, invasive, foreign weed. Roots as it crawls along the ground and makes tubers that are difficult to remove. Swamps small trees and shrubs. Grows extremely rapidly. Self-seeds prolifically.

Thank-you, Thank-you, THANK-YOU...for all the information on Cats Claw Vine. I live in Ct. and seen this vine growing in the wild and as a seed saver I grabbed a few pods in the fall to plant this spring. Sooooooooo happy I did not plant these seeds before reading the blog!!! I've already dealt with invasive plants...(cat tails, morning glories...the list goes on) needless to say I WILL NOT be planting cats claw! Thanks again :o) !!! P.S. The seed pods I have are 10" - 14" long and the vine I picked them from was at least 30 ft. tall.

This plant grows wild in Eastern NC. It is extremely difficult to get rid of and will destroy a garden by smothering everything else. It will grow in all kinds of soil and all light conditions. I have not seen flowers, but I constantly pull and cut it. Not much luck with weed killers. The temperature here has gone below 10 F. Nearby wild areas probably are source of flowers and seeds. Can't believe someone would plant this.

This is probably the finest climbing vine for covering a cinderblock wall. We have a lot of these barriers in Arizona and the Cat's Claw is the plant of choice for quickly ridding one of cinderblock ugliness. As the majority of the negatives point out, planting it and leaving it unabated can take over wood siding, shingles, etc. Just pay attention to where it's headed and trim it back from unwanted areas. Yes, you do have to pay attention. This will provide a very attractive, low maintenance foliage to cover unsightly walls.

Can anybody provide me with some NAPALM? Seriously this is not a friendly vine. It is all over EVERY blighted home in New Orleans, not even Katrina could kill it!

This KILLER HIGHLY INVASIVE vine has almost destroyed my parents 70 year old heirloom garden in north Florida ! It smothered 60 year old camellias, azaleas, trees, etc. We have no idea how it got started. However, we do know it is impossible to control much less get rid of! The sharp, cat like claws allow it to grip and totally cover anything!
Cut it down prior to blooming or a million more seeds will spread from the long pods.
This plant needs to be banned in the U.S. before it destroys our native vegetation!

Have grown this plant on a south facing wall in Carefree, AZ for 30 years. It is easy to control by withholding irrigation. Pulls easily off of stucco periodically. Does not leave tendrils on walls when pulled off. Forms potato size tubers and will root where stems touch wet soil for long periods. Nice green color year around even after frosts and really hot weather. Needs to be trained onto walls, often spreads across the ground or into other plants. Best to isolate to one spot of soil to prevent spreading under and over other plants. Consider root barrier. Rarely flowers. Will attempt to grow in Willamette Valley in 2007.

Cat's Claw Macfadyena unguis-cati is Naturalized in Texas and other States and is considered an invasive plant in Texas.

I just bought a slightly rundown house in an old neighborhood in Houston. I saw that this vine had made its home in my yard, but I was unconcerned since the garden and house both needed major renovations.

Over the past couple of weeks, I noticed that this vine is everywhere!! It is at the top of one neighbor's mature oak trees, it has completely covered another neighbor's fence and it has grown from the ground, up through my siding, only to appear again along my roofline. I have to completely rip out the existing plants in my flowerbeds to even begin to try to eradicate this thing! I can't believe is legal to sell!

Cat's Claw Vine or Yellow Trumpet Vine (Macfadyena unguis-cati) is one of the most invasive vines in many parts of the southern United States, from zone 8a southward, including in many areas of Florida including southeast Florida and the Keys and my area. It is extremely invasive in disturbed settings such as abandoned or old buildings, in concrete and in weedy, vacant lots and similar disturbed sites as well as along the perimeter or borders of natural areas. In poor areas of Miami-Dade and Broward and occasionally parts of Palm Beach counties and also in the Keys (southeast Florida coast) and on the southwest coast of Florida as well this vine is often seen growing in concrete and on the walls and along and over the roofs of poor or abandoned, rundown houses and large buildings, especially warehouse complexes and is extremely invasive especially in those areas. It is also found throughout many areas of Florida and in many counties throughout the state, mainly in parts of the Panhandle and in much of central Florida and on the southeast and southwest coasts and in the Keys. It is also invasive in many other southern states, such as Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana and Texas. It is also found in and is a weed in Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is nearly impossible to get rid of, is highly unattractive and unsightly at appearance, and is listed as a noxious weed in many areas of the southern U.S. and is a Category One Invasive on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council's Pest Plant List (FLEPPC). I hope nobody would ever plant this... it is purely a weed. It is fast-growing and more than once invades some natural areas, climbing over and completely covering and shading out sunlight, killing native vegetation. However, it is most invasive in urban settings and on the border of natural areas that are next to or are surrounded by urban settings. Please DO NOT PLANT THIS PLANT ANYWHERE IN THE U.S. OR ANYWHERE WHERE IT IS NOT NATIVE AND CAN BECOME INVASIVE!

MORE FACTS - Has yellow trumpet-like flowers (hence other common name used, Yellow Trumpet Vine). Fast-growing and invasive from zone 8a through 11 and nearly impossible to get rid of. Invades urban settings, especially around old or abandoned structures, fences, or weedy and/or vacant lots. Also invades some natural areas, climbing over and killing native or other vegetation. In Florida, found in much of central Florida as well as along the southeast and southwest coasts and in the Keys; in scattered locations in northern Florida and the Panhandle. Survives temperatures down to about 15 or 10 degrees, possibly slightly lower. Grows well from zone 8a south through zone 11. Some counties where it is invasive and found in Florida include:

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA COUNTIES WHERE INVASIVE/FOUND:
Martin
Palm Beach
Broward
Miami-Dade

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA COUNTIES WHERE INVASIVE/FOUND:
Pasco
Pinellas
Hillsborough
Sarasota
Manatee
Charlotte
*All in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg general region mainly.

CENTRAL FLORIDA COUNTIES WHERE INVASIVE/FOUND:
Hernando
Polk
Lake
Orange
Seminole
Brevard
Indian River
St. Lucie

NORTHERN FLORIDA AND PANHANDLE COUNTIES WHERE INVASIVE/FOUND:
Alachua
Leon
Escambia

There are probably many more counties in Florida as well that have this invasive vine (most of the counties give are from info on this vine from the ISB Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants. Some counties given are based on details and/or guesses based on range map information.).

Listed in many areas as a noxious weed. FLEPPC Class One Invasive in Florida, including in my area.

OTHER STATES WHERE FOUND IN U.S.:
Georgia
South Carolina
Louisiana
Texas
Hawaii
*There are probably other states where this vine is found and/or invasive and/or spreading. This information is based on distribution info for this spp. on The Plants National Database by The United States Natural Resources Conservation Service.

OTHER AREAS WHERE THIS VINE IS FOUND AND/OR INVASIVE AND/OR SPREADING:
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islands
*Also based on distribution info for this spp. on The Plants National Database.

MORAL OF THE STORY - Please, DO NOT PLANT THIS VINE IN WARM AREAS! It is way too invasive in the southern U.S., the Caribbean and other areas!

In New Orleans this is not only invasive in the garden but it will grow into your walls. I have pulled twenty feet of it, white from lack of light but alive and reaching up, out of the side of a house. I have to circle my home repeatedly yanking it down.
The tubers are huge bottle like growths, nearly impossible to reach. I will try to kill them by sticking the big vines into a jar of Roundup but I'm not optimistic. I saw some perv selling this horror on Ebay!
I'd kick him, if he were in front of me. Really. This is a vile weed and I would'nt risk it even where it will freeze back-nothing is worth this aggravation.

Wish I could type NEGATIVE in all caps for everyone to see this extremely horrible plant. It is a Category I Exotic Pest Plant in Florida.

During a Florida internship, one of the worst jobs I was given was to help eradicate this vine. A huge area needed to be removed in order to save the other plants that it had enveloped. We crawled around on our knees and stomachs beneath the thorny old vines...one of us sawed the vines off at ground level while the other one immediately applied full strength Garlon. It is my understanding that this DID work. Roundup and other sprayed herbicides did not. Maybe this will help some of you.

I now live in north central Florida. Although I was able to identify this vine when I got here, I didn't find out that it was invasive. It has managed to kill a good part of my Ligustrum hedge, as well as several trees in my next door neighbor's yard. I actually came to this site hoping to find a way to eradicate it. My recommendation: don't plant any!

My grandfather had this growing on the south side of his stucco house in Delano, California (Zone 9) from the 1940's until he died in 1977. The only time it came off of the house was when the house had to be restuccoed or repaired. Never heard of any problem with this plant...His comment was that it helped keep the house cool.

Cats Claw Vine is an aggressive tropical vine that climbs up trees and other surfaces with cat like claws in order to reach for more sunlight. It is found in dry woodlands of Southern, Central and South Americas. Once established it is hard to eradicate due to extensive underground tubors , and the vines tend to choke out all existing vegetation and deprive the forest of air and sunlight. Cats claw will grow in deep primary forest, and creep along the forest floors looking for a vertical object to cling to..more than often Cats Claw Vine is seen growing at the edges of secondary forests and near flood plains. This vine will tolerate a wide range of soils, slightly acidic and well drained.

This plant is VERY INVASIVE. I have seen it actually lift the shingles off of roofs. It also attaches itself with the "claw" to stucco homes and walls and when you try to remove it the stucco comes off with it! The only way I was able to kill it was with gasoline (I know I shouldn't have but it was the only way.) DON'T PLANT THIS!!!!!!!!

I'd strongly advise against using this plant in areas that don't have regular, hard freezes. It can quickly cover trees and buildings and is nearly impossible to control, much less eradicate, in the coastal South. It forms large, extensive underground tubers that make it withstand even treatment with glyphosphate (RoundUp). It can germinate in the crack of a sidewalk and thrive there. I've seen them growing out of unused chimneys and covering the rooftops of houses. This plant spreads by seed and stolons. Established plants produce prodigeous numbers of seed. On the upside (?), I've never seen it growing in wild areas, only in urban settings.

According to the guild from where I bought this plant, it says exposure is full sun to partial shade; spacing varies. Average height and width is 25-40 feet. Water requirements are low, and once established is cold-hardy to 10°F

Plant anytime. Cutting the plant to the ground after planting is the only way to try to make it attach faster. Trim down hard after bloom to prevent the plant from becoming top-heavy. Necessitates frequent pruning to keep balanced.