Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Uncaria rhynchophylla
Also known as Uncaria, Gou Teng
Pronounced Gou Teng: GOH-tung; Uncaria rhynchophylla: un-KAIR-ee-uh ring-koh-FIL-uh.
Cool, sweet, calming vine-hooks that anchor rising Liver yang and extinguish inner wind: the classic that quiets tremor, convulsion, throbbing headache, and hypertensive heat.
Insufficient modern safety data. In classical Chinese medicine it is used only under practitioner supervision for eclampsia and pre-eclampsia of late pregnancy; it is not a documented abortifacient but is not for self-use. Avoid in pregnancy except under qualified professional care. (AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed., 2013; Bensky et al. 2004.)
Insufficient data during lactation. No specific reports of harm, but safety is not established; avoid or use only under professional supervision. (AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed., 2013.)
Traditionally a first-line pediatric herb for febrile convulsions and fright wind, given only within practitioner-prescribed formulas. Because any seizure in a child requires medical evaluation, it is not for unsupervised home use; reserve for professional care. (Bensky et al. 2004; AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook, 2nd ed., 2013.)
A herb for serious conditions (hypertension, seizures, stroke, eclampsia) that require medical management: use as an adjunct under qualified supervision, not as casual self-care. Add near the end of the decoction (hou xia): boiling longer than about 20 minutes destroys the active alkaloids and the blood-pressure effect. Avoid in hypotension and in cold, deficient constitutions without heat or wind.
Hypotension (may lower blood pressure further). Cold-deficiency patterns without heat or wind. Not for unsupervised treatment of seizures, stroke, or hypertensive or eclamptic emergencies, which require conventional emergency care.
Uncaria rhynchophylla is widely cultivated for the herb trade in southern China (Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan); the hooked stems are pruned from established vines, a renewable harvest, and the species is not listed as threatened. Do not confuse it with South American Cat's Claw (U. tomentosa), a different species with its own sourcing concerns. Prefer cultivated, species-verified material, since several Uncaria species are sold interchangeably as Gou Teng.
Not named in the canonical biblical texts; native to the mountain forests of southern and eastern China and Japan. A classical Chinese medicinal recorded for children's convulsions and fright wind in early materia medica (the Kaibao Bencao, 973 CE, with earlier mention attributed to the Ming Yi Bie Lu, c. 500 CE) and catalogued for the West by Stuart (1911).
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