English: Cat's claw; Tiger's claw; Iceplant.
Genus: 1 species.
Region: Mexico, Central America, Caribbean; introduced throughout the tropics, India.
Habitat: subtropical and tropical; uncultivated fields and arable lands from plains to 1,500 metres.
Use: for making beads and other native ornaments; medicinal, Ayurveda and Siddha folk medicine.
BotanyErect, somewhat shrubby, annual plant, about 1 meter tall, covered with glandular hairs.
Leaves: opposite, ovate, mucilaginous, 8–20 cm wide and 6–19 cm long, with red petioles; resemble sticky rhubarb.
Flowers: pale pink, tubular, with nectar guides, purple spots.
Fruits: blackened when ripe, with hooked spines at the tip, sticking to animal fur and eventually the seeds fall out as the fruit gets crushed by the animal's feet.