Herb. No. 170 · Pedaliaceae
Kalahari sands of Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. Wild stands are conservation-sensitive.
Native · Africa
Native Also grown
LegalCautionplant
Devil’s claw
Harpagophytum procumbens
A Kalahari trailer whose hooked fruit named it, and whose tuber is a bitter joint folklore — buy farmed, do not strip the desert.
Devil’s claw is a southern African trailer. The fruit is a grappling hook; the medicine is a secondary tuber. Traditional use is as a bitter for joint discomfort. Wild harvest has pressured stands. This plate is a labeled, cultivated tuber product — not a backyard crop, not a wild digging.
Flavor
Bitter, earthy. Capsules exist because the tea is an argument.
Parts used
Secondary tuber
Helpful
- A real bitter tradition
- Farmed tuber exists
Cautions
- Wild harvest pressure
- Can upset the gut
- Not a temperate garden