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Vitex agnus-castus
Also called Chasteberry, Lilac Chaste Tree, Monk's Pepper, Lilac chastetree, Purple vitex, Chastetree
Chaste-tree is a deciduous shrub or small tree from the Mediterranean, widely grown for aromatic foliage and lavender flower spikes in midsummer. It needs full sun and free-draining soil to do well.
Vitex agnus-castus (also called vitex, chaste tree / chastetree, chasteberry, Abraham's balm, lilac chastetree, or monk's pepper) is a plant native of the Mediterranean region. It is one of the few temperate-zone species of Vitex, which is on the whole a genus of tropical and subtropical flowering plants. Vitex is a cross-pollinating plant, but its self-pollination has been recorded.
Theophrastus mentioned the shrub several times, as ágnos (ἄγνος) in Enquiry into Plants. It has been long believed to be an anaphrodisiac – leading to its name as "chaste tree" – but its effectiveness for such action remains unproven. The shrub was utilized for religious rituals in ancient Greece and among the Philistines in modern Palestine as well as other countries in the Levant region.
Adverse effects from Vitex can include nausea, headache, gastrointestinal discomfort, menstrual discomfort, fatigue, and skin disorders. People taking dopamine-related medications or Parkinson's disease medications should avoid using chasteberry. Women on birth-control pills, hormone-replacement therapy, or having a hormone-sensitive condition, such as breast cancer, are advised not to use chasteberry. Use of Vitex is discouraged for pregnant or breastfeeding women, and for children.
Black Plum · Meru oak · Vitex lucens · Chinese chastetree · Smallflower chastetree · Malayan Teak · Roundleaf chastetree · Simpleleaf chastetree
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Vitex agnus-castus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
