''Vitex'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s in the sage

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savo ...

.List of Genera in Lamiaceae. At: Peter F. Stevens. 2001 onwards. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below). It has about 250

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

.Raymond M. Harley, Sandy Atkins, Andrey L. Budantsev, Philip D. Cantino, Barry J. Conn, Renée J. Grayer, Madeline M. Harley, Rogier P.J. de Kok, Tatyana V. Krestovskaja, Ramón Morales, Alan J. Paton, and P. Olof Ryding. 2004. "Labiatae" pages 167-275. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor) and Joachim W. Kadereit (volume editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume VII. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. ''Vitex'' In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In:

Regnum Vegetabile The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and ...

(see ''External links'' below). Common names include chaste tree or chastetree, traditionally referring to '' V. agnus-castus'', but often applied to other species, as well. Species of ''Vitex'' are

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

throughout the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred ...

and subtropics, with a few species in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

and one in New Zealand.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. About 18 species are known in cultivation. ''V. agnus-castus'' and ''

Vitex negundo ''Vitex negundo'', commonly known as the Chinese chaste tree, five-leaved chaste tree, or horseshoe vitex, or nisinda is a large aromatic shrub with quadrangular, densely whitish, tomentose branchlets. It is widely used in folk medicine, ...

'' are often grown in temperate climates.Anthony J. Huxley, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (editors). 1992. ''The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening.'' The Macmillan Press Limited, London; The Stockton Press, New York. About six others are frequently grown in the tropics.George W. Staples and Derral R. Herbst "A Tropical Garden Flora" Bishop Museum Press: Honolulu (2005) Most of the cultivated species serve as

ornamentals Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

. Some provide valuable

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

. The flexible limbs of some species are used in

basket weaving Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making basket ...

. Some of the

aromatic In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic (ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to sat ...

species are used medicinally or to repel

mosquitos Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "litt ...

. The genus ''Vitex'' was named by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

in ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...

'' in 1753.Carolus Linnaeus. 1753. ''Species Plantarum'' 2:706. Laurentii Salvii. (see ''External Links'' below). ''Vitex'' was the name used by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

for ''Vitex agnus-castus''. It is

derived Derive may refer to: * Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments * ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism *Dérive, a psychogeographical concept See also * *Derivation (disambiguatio ...

from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

''vieo'', meaning to weave or to tie up, a reference to the use of ''V. agnus-castus'' in basketry.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume I, page 91. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, US. London, UK. (set). (see ''External links'' below). As a result of

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

studies of

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

s, ''Vitex'' is one of several genera that were transferred from the

Verbenaceae The Verbenaceae ( ), the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell. Th ...

to thevLamiaceae in the 1990s. It is the largest genus in the subfamily

Viticoideae Viticoideae is one of seven subfamilies in the sage family, Lamiaceae. Genera This subfamily contains the following 10 genera: * ''Cornutia'' L. * '' Gmelina'' L. * ''Paravitex'' Fletcher * '' Petitia'' Jacq. * ''Pseudocarpidium'' Millsp. * '' ...

Taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

sampling in molecular phylogenetic studies has never been sufficient to test the

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gr ...

of the Viticoideae, but it is generally thought to be an unnatural group.Systematics of Lamiaceae Subfamily Viticoideae. At: Website of Kew Gardens. (see ''External links'' below). The subfamily is probably

diphyletic In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

, with ''

Premna ''Premna'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, first described for modern science in 1771. It is widespread through tropical and subtropical regions in Africa, southern Asia, northern Australia, and various islands in th ...

'', ''

Gmelina ''Gmelina'' is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae. It consists of about 35 species in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Southeast Asia, India and a few in Africa. Some species such as ''G. arborea'' have been planted and/or become na ...

'', and '' Cornutia'' constituting one clade, and with ''Vitex'', ''Petitia'', ''Pseudocarpidium'', and ''Teijsmanniodendron'' constituting the other.Gemma L.C. Bramley, Félix Forest, and Rogier P.J. de Kok. 2009. "Troublesome tropical mints: re-examining generic limits of ''Vitex'' and relations (Lamiaceae) in South East Asia". ''Taxon'' 58(2):500-510.

Description

''Vitex'' is a genus of shrubs and trees, from 1.0 to 35 m tall. Some species have whitish bark that is characteristically furrowed. Leaves are opposite, usually compound. The fruit is a

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kerne ...

Circumscription

In 2009, a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study showed that three small genera, ''Paravitex'', ''Viticipremna'', and ''Tsoongia'', are

embedded Embedded or embedding (alternatively imbedded or imbedding) may refer to: Science * Embedding, in mathematics, one instance of some mathematical object contained within another instance ** Graph embedding * Embedded generation, a distributed ge ...

in ''Vitex''. These three genera were duly sunk into

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

with ''Vitex''. ''Pseudocarpidium'', ''Petitia'', and ''Teijsmanniodendron'' possibly are nested within ''Vitex''. Sampling in the 2009 study was not sufficient to determine the

phylogenetic position In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups ...

of these genera. The relationships of ''Teijsmanniodendron'' to these genera was not discussed in a

revision Revision is the process of revising. More specifically, it may refer to: * Patch (computing), Update, a modification of software or a database * Revision control, the management of changes to sets of computer files * ''ReVisions'', a 2004 antholo ...

of ''Teijsmanniodendron'' in 2009.Rogier P.J. de Kok, Go Rusea, and Abdul Latiff. 2009. "The Genus ''Teijsmanniodendron'' Koord. (Lamiaceae)". ''Kew Bulletin'' 64(4):587-625.

Selected species

* '' Vitex acunae'' * ''

Vitex agnus-castus ''Vitex agnus-castus'', also called vitex, chaste tree (or chastetree), chasteberry, Abraham's balm, lilac chastetree, or monk's pepper, is a native of the Mediterranean region. It is one of the few temperate-zone species of '' Vitex'', which is ...

'' — chasteberry, monk's pepper, chastetree * ''

Vitex ajugaeflora ''Vitex ajugaeflora'' is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is endemic to Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the easte ...

'' * ''

Vitex altissima ''Vitex altissima'', the peacock chaste tree, is a species of woody plant reaching some 20 m in height, in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to the Indomalayan realm, namely Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, and is also foun ...

'' * ''

Vitex amaniensis ''Vitex amaniensis'' is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is endemic to Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the Afric ...

'' * ''

Vitex capitata ''Vitex'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae.List of Genera in Lamiaceae. At: Peter F. Stevens. 2001 onwards. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below). It has ...

'' * ''

Vitex chrysocarpa ''Vitex'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae.List of Genera in Lamiaceae. At: Peter F. Stevens. 2001 onwards. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below). It has ...

'' * ''

Vitex cofassus ''Vitex cofassus'' is a species of woody plant in the family Lamiaceae. Native to New Guinea and the Southwest Pacific islands, "New Guinea teak" is planted for its hardwood, used in construction, in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines ...

'' * ''

Vitex cooperi ''Vitex cooperi'' is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is found in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panam� ...

'' * ''

Vitex cymosa ''Vitex cymosa'' is a species of tree in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Panama and South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small porti ...

'' * '' Vitex divaricata'' * '' Vitex doniana'' — wild African black plum, koronfinfin * '' Vitex evoluta'' * ''

Vitex gaumeri ''Vitex gaumeri'' (also called fiddlewood, walking lady, or yax-nik) is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, ...

'' * '' Vitex gigantea'' * ''

Vitex heptaphylla ''Vitex heptaphylla'' is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is found in Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, i ...

'' * ''

Vitex keniensis ''Vitex keniensis'' (also called Meru oak) is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is endemic to Kenya. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by whic ...

'' — Meru oak * '' Vitex kuylenii'' * ''

Vitex lehmbachii ''Vitex lehmbachii'' is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is endemic to Cameroon. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat ...

'' * ''

Vitex leucoxylon ''Vitex leucoxylon'', the white wood chaste tree, is a species of deciduous woody plant with 15m height, in the family Lamiaceae. Native to Western Ghats of India and Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī L ...

'' * ''

Vitex lignum-vitae ''Vitex lignum-vitae'', known in Australia as yellow hollywood or "lignum-vitae" (also used for other species), is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. The natural range of distribution is in dry, sub-tropical or tropical rainforest from th ...

'' — yellow hollywood, lignum-vitae * ''

Vitex lindenii ''Vitex'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae.List of Genera in Lamiaceae. At: Peter F. Stevens. 2001 onwards. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below). It has ...

'' * ''

Vitex longisepala ''Vitex longisepala'' is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is a tree endemic to Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri ...

'' * ''

Vitex lucens ''Vitex lucens'', or pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. History Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Banks and Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. The plant was excellently described by Solan ...

'' — puriri * ''

Vitex megapotamica ''Vitex megapotamica'' is a hardwood fruit tree found in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southern Brazil. In Brazil it is commonly called ''tarumã''. The tarumã grows to be up to ten metres tall. Its bark is coloured dark grey; its compound ...

'' * ''

'' — five-leaf chastetree * ''

Vitex obovata ''Vitex'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae.List of Genera in Lamiaceae. At: Peter F. Stevens. 2001 onwards. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below). It has ...

'' * '' Vitex orinocensis'' * ''

Vitex parviflora ''Vitex parviflora'' is a species of plant in the family Verbenaceae, also known as smallflower chastetree or the molave tree. The name "molave" is from Spanish, derived from ''mulawin'', the Tagalog word for the tree. It is also known as ''tugas ...

'' — Molave tree * '' Vitex peduncularis'' * '' Vitex pinnata'' * '' Vitex quinata'' * ''

Vitex rotundifolia ''Vitex rotundifolia'', the roundleaf chastetree or beach vitex, is a species of flowering plant in the sage family Lamiaceae. It is native to seashores throughout the Pacific. Its range includes continents and islands stretching from India east ...

'' — beach vitex * '' Vitex thyrsiflora'' * ''

Vitex triflora ''Vitex triflora'' is a species of tree in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Panama and South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small por ...

'' * ''

Vitex trifolia ''Vitex trifolia'', the simpleleaf chastetree, is a large coastal shrub or small tree. Description ''Vitex trifolia'' is a large coastal shrub or small tree, less than 5 m in height with the stems covered by soft hairs (tomentose). The leaves a ...

'' — simpleleaf chastetree * ''

Vitex tripinnata ''Vitex tripinnata'' is a species of tropical forest tree in the family Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all pa ...

'' * '' Vitex urceolata'' * ''

Vitex yaundensis ''Vitex yaundensis'' is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is endemic to Cameroon. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat l ...

'' * ''

Vitex zanzibarensis ''Vitex zanzibarensis'' is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is found in Kenya and Tanzania. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natura ...

'' * '' Vitex zeyheri'' Vitex cannabifolia1

Description

Circumscription

Selected species

References

Further reading

External links