Tinkturenpresse

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Harpagophytum procumbens (Burch.) DC. ex Meisn. - syn.Uncaria procumbens Burch. - Pedaliaceae - devil's claw, wood spider, grapple plant, Teufelskralle

Perennial herb, native to southern Africa; taproot succulent; stems annual, creeping, up to 2m long; leaves opposite, simple, deeply or shallowly lobed; flowers tubular, 5-6cm long, pale purple or pink, sometimes white, yellow inside the tube; fruits large (up to 15cm in diam.), forming curved arms with recurved spines; seeds dark brown or black.
There are two subspecies of H. procumbens, namely H. procumbens subsp. procumbens (leaves with five main lobes, spiny arms on the fruits two to five times wider than the width of the middle of the fruit), found in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa; and H. procumbens subsp. transvaalense (leaves with only three main lobes, fruits with shorter spiny arms) found in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Devil's claw is difficult to grow in cultivation. The most of the tubers used for Western medicine come from plants growing in the wild. „Wild-harvesting of devil’s claw tubers can be sustainable if only some of the tubers are taken and if enough are left behind for the plants to regenerate.“ http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/plants-fungi/harpagophytum-procumbens-devils-claw