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Vitex negundo |
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| Common name |
chastetree |
| Family |
lamiaceae |
| Life cycle |
shrub (Z6-10) |
| Flowers |
blue (summer) |
| Size |
see comments |
| Light |
sun-shade |
| Cultural notes |
not fussy, drought-tolerant |
From seed  |
In my experience, this germinates at room temperature after one month cold treatment.
Flowers first year from seed sown indoors early.
detailed seed-starting info below
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| Seed ripens | mid-October |
In our garden, this has so far been a die-back shrub - in mid-spring, foliage will re-emerge from low on the woody stems, but the top parts of the stems don't make it through winter. That means that, even though sources say it gets 10-20 ft tall, for us it doesn't grow much bigger than 5 ft. Botanists haven't decided whether this belongs in lamiaceae or verbenaceae. The foliage, which bears some resemblance to marijuana, is good for a double-take by those who are attuned to such things. I thought this was Vitex agnus-castus, until a seed trader pointed out that the serrated leaf margins are typical of V. negundo.
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| This is a good example of how close-up photos show details usually missed during casual inspection - the flower clusters look blue, but the individual flowers have more intricate coloring
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| | Happily and plentifully self-sows into the dry streambed underneath the mama tree |
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We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. Seed for this plant is included on my seed trade list About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Vitex negundo
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Sheila Wolfe | Mar 06, 2005 | I am trying to locate seeds for Vitex Negundo to grow in the Texas Hill Country. Do you sell them, or could you plese recommend a source?
Thank you SW
Hi Sheila, I do have them on my trade list. Take a look at this page if you don't have a trade to make. |
| HAROLD DURHAM | Mar 29, 2005 | I GROW VITEX NEGUNDO FOR A HONEY BEE FORAGE PLANT,AND HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF SEEDS. I ALSO GROW OTHER HERBS ,SHRUBS AND SHRUBS FOR THE SAME REASON: I WOULDBE HAPPYTO SHARE ANY SEEDS OR PLANTS WHICH ARE PERMISSABLE TO SHIP. |
| Dr.S.K.Agarwalla | May 17, 2005 | I am using leaves, roots and seeds of this plant in my clinical practice for various ailments like pain abdomen, dysmenorrhea,pharyngitis, artheritis with very impressive results at times.I am willing to share my clinical experiences with all who are interested .
indherb20@hotmail.com |
| Farhad | May 22, 2005 | Your works has been Excellent/Outstanding/Incredible ( especially resoluation)!!! |
| Ramarao | Feb 24, 2006 | May I know about the species of Vitex with purple colored leaves, instead of green, growing in Kerela region, India.
I'm not familiar with it - sounds nice, though. |
| sunil | Jul 05, 2008 | vitex at india is available as violet stem variety too , which is having marvlous antiinflamatory effect for farmers working hard. these people use this plant leaves for releaving pain,,,, |
| krishna | Aug 21, 2008 | hi, i m in M.Phill cource in botany my problem is the same vitex negundo variety is heaving blue and white coloured flowers! why? because of environmental feactors? |
| arpana & jatin | Mar 03, 2009 | Is it possible to grow vitex sp. at the ht. 2300 amsl?IARI, Shimla
Alas, I have no experience growing anything at those conditions. |
| jaymark blanche | Dec 07, 2009 | do vitex negundo have many varieties? how about their propagation?
because we're trying to study not only for it's medicinal use but in other means. |
| dr.arvind | Oct 20, 2010 | very usefull remedy for arthritic, muscular or inflammatory pain. we can take fomentation by boiling its leaves into water.
arvind0200@gmail.com |
| Glenn Steinberg | Mar 29, 2011 | I have Vitex agnus-castus, but they're new to me. I planted my young plants out last summer and hope that they revive this spring. Their leaves didn't look anything like marijuana leaves, however. When Vitex are small are the leaves different, only developing the marijuana-like appearance after the plant matures?
I think that's right, the young plants look different. But also, V. agnus-castus has a different leaf shape from V. negundo (according to my references - I've yet to successfully grow the former). |
| jennifer moore | Jun 21, 2015 | I raise honey bees i need the following trees and plants for them trees are golden rain tree, vitex negundo, korean evodia or known as bee bee tree,,flowers are echium vulgare, borage, hysop anise..thanks jennifer |
| A Berger | May 13, 2016 | Glad I came here as you answered my question about pruning back stems. Here in zone 6 the plant has taken 5 years to grow to 4 feet. Its leaves DO look like marijuana leaves, but smoother. I planted it after reading it was 'among the best of bee plants'. |
| penny | Jun 09, 2016 | I bought vitex negundo seeds this spring. I experimented with two reported germination techniques....cold treatment prior to planting and soaking 24 hours prior to planting AND i decided to create a terrarium. I live in central MS (day time temps high 70-80's), so I took a large plastic pretzel jug from Sams. I drilled holes in the lid for ventilation. I put Miracle Gro seed starter in the bottom and lightly dampened it with water, then sprinkled seeds on top and a light layer of soil. I sat this on the WEST side of my house where it gets midday to late evening sun. That was 1 month ago. I've not needed to water as condensate in the terrarium keeps soil moist. Again, it's been only 1 month and I have over half a dozen seedlings ready to transplant today. I hope this helps everyone. |
| gary conway | Jul 27, 2017 | Honeybees prefer vitex-negundo. Please look at pictures vitex-negundo they have saw tooth edge leaves. |
| mahes | Jan 17, 2018 | can anyone tell me the germination rate of vitex nirgundi, because my seeds are not germinating and they are freshly collected.
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- Seed from '01 trade. Sowed to pot outside in September '01, yielded 2 seedlings in May '02
- Same seed as above. Baggy 35F(4w) - 70F (40%G, 8-16d)
- Seed from '04 garden. Baggy 35F (31d) - 70F (40%G, 3-20d)
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