Vitex

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Genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae

title: "Vitex" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["vitex", "lamiaceae-genera", "botanical-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus"] description: "Genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae" topic_path: "general/vitex" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitex" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae ::

|image = Vitex altissima L.f.jpg |image_caption = Vitex altissima |taxon = Vitex |authority = L. |type_species = Vitex agnus-castus |type_species_authority = L. |diversity_link = #Selected species |diversity = About 200–250 species |synonyms_ref = |synonyms =

  • Macrostegia Nees
  • Neorapinia Moldenke
  • Mailelou Adans.
  • Limia Vand.
  • Allasia Lour.
  • Nephrandra Willd.
  • Tripinna Lour.
  • Chrysomallum Thouars
  • Tripinnaria Pers.
  • Pyrostoma G.Mey.
  • Wallrothia Roth 1821 not Spreng. 1815
  • Psilogyne DC
  • Casarettoa Walp.
  • Rapinia Montrouz.
  • Agnus-castus Tourn. ex Carrière
  • Varengevillea Baill
  • Pistaciovitex Kuntze
  • Viticipremna H.J.Lam
  • Tsoongia Merr.
  • Paravitex H.R.Fletcher

Vitex is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. It has about 200–250 species; the Plants of the World Online database accepts 211 species. Common names include chaste tree or chastetree, traditionally referring to V. agnus-castus, but often applied to other species, as well, and pūriri for the New Zealand species V. lucens.

Species of Vitex are native throughout the tropics and subtropics, with a few species in warm-temperate Eurasia and one in New Zealand.

A number species are grown in cultivation. V. agnus-castus and V. negundo are the species most often planted in warm temperate European gardens; several others are frequently grown in the tropics. Most of the cultivated species serve as ornamental plants. Some provide valuable timber. The flexible twigs of some species are used in basket weaving. Some of the aromatic species are used medicinally or to repel mosquitos.

The genus Vitex was named by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753. Vitex was the name used by Pliny the Elder for V. agnus-castus. It is derived from the Latin vieo, meaning to weave or to tie up, a reference to the use of V. agnus-castus in basketry.

As a result of phylogenetic studies of DNA sequences, Vitex is one of several genera that were transferred from the Verbenaceae to the Lamiaceae in the 1990s. It is the largest genus in the subfamily Viticoideae of Lamiaceae. Taxon sampling in molecular phylogenetic studies has never been sufficient to test the monophyly of the Viticoideae, but it is generally thought to be an unnatural group. The subfamily is probably diphyletic, with Premna, Gmelina, and Cornutia constituting one clade, and with Vitex, Petitia, Pseudocarpidium, and Teijsmanniodendron constituting the other.

Description

Vitex is a genus of shrubs and trees, from 1–40 m tall.

Circumscription

The type species is Vitex agnus-castus. In 2009, a molecular phylogenetic study showed that three small genera, Paravitex, Viticipremna, and Tsoongia, are embedded in Vitex. These three genera were duly sunk into synonymy with Vitex.

Pseudocarpidium, Petitia, and Teijsmanniodendron possibly are nested within Vitex. Sampling in the 2009 study was not sufficient to determine the phylogenetic position of these genera. The relationships of Teijsmanniodendron to these genera was not discussed in a revision of Teijsmanniodendron in 2009.

Selected species

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Vitex_chrysocarpus_MS_10225.jpg" caption="''[[Vitex chrysocarpus]]'' fruit and autumn leaves"] ::

References

References

  1. (2020-10-18). "Plants of the World Online".
  2. 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. {{ISBN. 978-3-540-40593-1
  3. ''Vitex'' In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: [[Regnum Vegetabile]] (see ''External links'' below).
  4. [http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=213290 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
  5. David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK.
  6. (1992). "New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening". Macmillan Stockton press.
  7. George W. Staples and Derral R. Herbst "A Tropical Garden Flora" Bishop Museum Press: Honolulu (2005)
  8. (2013). "Elemental and Phytochemical Screening of Vitex Doniana Leaves and Stem Bark in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria". International Journal of Chemical Studies.
  9. Carolus Linnaeus. 1753. ''Species Plantarum'' 2:706. Laurentii Salvii. (see ''External Links'' below).
  10. Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume I, page 91. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, US. London, UK. {{ISBN. 978-0-8493-2673-8 (set). (see ''External links'' below).
  11. Systematics of Lamiaceae Subfamily Viticoideae. At: Website of Kew Gardens. (see ''External links'' below).
  12. 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.
  13. "Manual of the New Zealand Flora".
  14. "''Vitex''".
  15. Rogier P.J. de Kok, Go Rusea, and Abdul Latiff. 2009. "The Genus ''Teijsmanniodendron'' Koord. (Lamiaceae)". ''Kew Bulletin'' '''64'''(4):587-625.

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