Common Name: Cat’s claw creeper
Cat’s claw creeper is a large creeper of South American origin often planted in Tamilnadu as an ornamental plant. The plant to grow to more than 10 meters and has a woody lenticulate stem. The plant has compound leaf arrangement with 2 leaflets (opposite arrangement); along with the leaflets a clawed tendril is also seen. The leaves are thin and papery in feel; the distances between leafing nodes are around 4 cm. The leaf stalk and leaf length are around 1 cm and 6 cm respectively. The leaves are roughly ovate in shape with a cuneate bottom and an acuminate tip. The inflorescence is axillary. The calyx cup is around 1 cm long, green in color and fused. The sepal teeth’s are hardly visible. The flower stalks and flower length measure around 3 cm and 7 cm respectively. The flower is bi-lipped and unequal in size. The five parted flower petals are yellow in color and united below to form a tubular flower. Inside the throat of the flower darker streaks of yellow are visible. The flower has four epipetalous stamens arranged in a didynamous manner.
