What is the devil's claw?
Devil's claw is the dialect name of the harpagophyte (Harpagophytum procumbens), a climbing perennial plant that belongs to the Pedaliacee family. The Harpagophytum genus is the same as the sesame.
It grows in Southern Africa and especially in the eastern and south-eastern regions of Namibia, in southern Botswana, in the Kalahari region, in the Northern Cape and in Madagascar.
The "devil's claw owes its name to the four hard and ribbon-like appendages that characterize its ovoid fruits. These growths are equipped with robust hooks which, penetrating into the body or the legs of the animals, cause serious wounds, forcing them to perform a dance" frenzied ".
The part used for medicinal purposes consists of the lateral growths of the tuberous root (called secondary roots), which contain high percentages of active ingredients.
