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Vitex negundo
Also called Chinese Chaste-tree, Five Leaved Chaste, Five Leaf Chastetree, Five Leaved Chaste Tree, Yellow Bramble
Vitex negundo is a large aromatic shrub or small tree, 2 to 8 m tall, grown for its foliage, blue-to-white flower spikes and folk medicine uses in South and Southeast Asia. It is adaptable and tolerates a range of conditions, with good drainage and sun being the key to healthy growth.
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, particularly in South and Southeast Asia.
Vitex negundo is an erect shrub or small tree growing from 2 to 8 m (6.6 to 26.2 ft) in height. The bark is reddish brown. Its leaves are digitate, with five lanceolate leaflets, sometimes three. Each leaflet is around 4 to 10 cm (1.6 to 3.9 in) in length, with the central leaflet being the largest and possessing a stalk. The leaf edges are toothed or serrated and the bottom surface is covered in hair.
The principal constituents of the leaf juice are casticin, isoorientin, chrysophenol D, luteolin, p–hydroxybenzoic acid and D-fructose. The main constituents of the oil are sabinene, linalool, terpinen-4-ol, β-caryophyllene, α-guaiene and globulol constituting 61.8% of the oil.
Vitex negundo is native to tropical Eastern and Southern Africa and Asia. It is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere.
Purified extracts are believed to have medicinal properties.
Chaste-tree · Black Plum · Meru oak · Vitex lucens · Smallflower chastetree · Malayan Teak · Roundleaf chastetree · Simpleleaf chastetree
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Vitex negundo 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.
