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With love and passion, everyone can have a nice garden...Elaine Yim

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Malaysian Flora USDA Zone 11
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Monday, March 12, 2012

Cat's Claw Macfadyena unguis-cati - A weed or exotic beauty?


This is a beautiful, vigorous climber that loves our sunny equatorial climate. It can be used to drape over walls and fences where it forms a beautiful curtain with profuse flowering at areas that are receiving the most sunlight.

The plant is not considered as invasive in tropical Asia, Hawaii and Tanzania. However, it is listed as a Category 1 exotic invasive in Florida, also considered an invasive plant or noxious weed in Australia and southern Africa.






Scientific name: Macfadyena unguis-cati

Synonyms: 
Doxantha unguis-cati, Batocydia unguis-cati, Bignonia tweedieana, Bignonia unguis-cati , Doxantha unguis-cati 

Common name: Cat's Claw Creeper/Ivy, Yellow Trumpet Vine
(Its tendrils look like cat's claws)
Chinese name: 猫爪藤 (mao zhua teng)

Family: Bignoniaceae
Origin: Tropical America

Category: Evergreen perennial clinging climber
Photograph taken at the rooftop Secret Garden of 1-Utama

“Cat's Claw Macfadyena unguis-cati - A weed or exotic beauty?”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on March 12th, 2012.



Aggresive climber, noxious weed or exotic beauty?
It has gorgeous flowers and a strange name which is not easy to pronounce.

Dense foliage of Macfadyena unguis-cati 


“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross quotes (Swiss-American psychiatrist and author )


Its common name refers to the tendrils that look like cat claws

"Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; 
but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked.
Saint Augustine


Speaking about the tendrils that look like cat claws, I happened to run my fingers on some of those tendrils and found that despite its tiny size, it is indeed quite sharp at the tips!


This is my entry for Today's Flowers # 185, a meme which opens every Sunday, 2pm GMT. My grateful thanks to Today's Flowers team members; Luiz Santili Jr, Denise in Virginia, Laerte Pupo and Sandy Carlson. To participate and view other gorgeous flowers around the world, click here

19 comments:

  1. I love the way it drapes a certain area, however the flowers are not as plenty. I just love to look, but i don't want vigorously growing vines as well because they need careful guarding and maintenance, just like the thunbergia and the mysore and noong noch vine. No wonder it is invasive in Florida and Australia, even if they have larger areas than us here.

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  2. A weed it may be in some places, but definitely beautiful. Where is this photo taken? It is a good size.

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  3. Andrea, yeah, anything named vine (V), we should be Very (V) careful, haha!

    Sean, thanks for your good question. I forgot to state where it is taken - at the rooftop Secret Garden of 1-Utama. Have revised my post accordingly.

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  4. Although it may be invasive or considered a weed in some places (a good reason to plant mostly natives), it is still a beautiful vine.

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  5. Well it can be invasive and a weed here in Tucson, BUT it does cover areas up rather quickly and keeps its green leaves all year round here. I say beauty:)

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  6. It is a beautiful climber with its golden flowers. I think here it is also classified as a weed, but I would never look at it in that way. I think it has its uses to drape unsightly walls. One has to take care when discarding the prunings. It is certainly gorgeous.

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  7. Whatever category it's in, it sure is beautiful. Love the flowers and the color of them.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  8. Did not remember seeing these at the Secret Garden last I went ! nice !

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  9. The way it is described, it must indeed be a nightmare in the affected places as this plant grows very vigorously to the extent of suffocating other plants.

    This plant is a new addition at the Secret Garden. It is currently in bloom.

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  10. looks like the Petraeovitex Wolfei - The Nong Nooch Vine. The leaves are similiar, but not so much for the flowers. The characteristics are the same.

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  11. Beautiful flower.

    Regards and best wishes

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  12. Exotic beauty! It would be an annual at my house and so no need to worry about it taking over the garden. The flowers look quite large.

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  13. This is very pretty weeds! If we can take a good care, it's will create a beautiful sight in garden!

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  14. Ahhh, I think I did see it at the Secret Garden when I went there last month. It is a lovely specimen. Though it appears that locally it is not very commonly planted. A shame, as it has so much potential. Btw, still can't get your reply to comments to work?

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  15. That sure is a beautiful flower and vine. Sometimes it seems that invasives can be so pretty.

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  16. Lovely looking plant, looks so exotic and exciting, but as mentioned much be careful not to let it take over.

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  17. Thanks for introducing us to this vine. This is the first time I've seen it and I like it! I will ask my mother to look for this plant if it's available locally.

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  18. how incredibly beautiful. love how it trails.

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  19. Can these cat claw creeper...grown in a pot?..I am growing it in a large pot on top of my dog's cage..so that it can cover my dog's cage,but am not sure if it will grow to cover...I have only seen it growing upwards and not downwards...anyone knows,if it can grow?

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