Vitex agnus-castus

Vitex agnus-castus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Vitex
Species:
V. agnus-castus
Binomial name
Vitex agnus-castus

Vitex agnus-castus (also called vitex, chaste tree / chastetree, chasteberry, Abraham's balm,[1] lilac chastetree,[2] 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.[3] Vitex is a cross-pollinating plant, but its self-pollination has been recorded.[4]

Theophrastus mentioned the shrub several times, as agnos (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.[5] The shrub was utilized for religious rituals in ancient Greece and among the Philistines in modern-day Israel.[6]

  1. ^ New English Dictionary, s.v. "Chaste-tree".
  2. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "​Vitex agnus-castus​". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  3. ^ David J. Mabberley. 2008. Mabberley's Plant-Book third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK.
  4. ^ Verein für Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen Saluplanta. 2013. Handbuch des Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzenbaus volume 5 Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen L–Z, pages 192–199. Verein für Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen Saluplanta: Bernburg, Germany. ISBN 978-3-935971-64-5 (set).
  5. ^ "Chaste tree". Drugs.com. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Frumin Maeir Eniukhina Dagan 2024 p. was invoked but never defined (see the help page).