| Vitex agnus-castus | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific 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]
- ^ New English Dictionary, s.v. "Chaste-tree".
- ^ NRCS. "Vitex agnus-castus". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ^ David J. Mabberley. 2008. Mabberley's Plant-Book third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK.
- ^ 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).
- ^ "Chaste tree". Drugs.com. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Frumin Maeir Eniukhina Dagan 2024 p.was invoked but never defined (see the help page).