Vitex negundo Seeds | Five-leaved Chaste Tree

Five-Leaved Chaste Tree (Vitex negundo) seed — Five-Leaved Chaste Tree (*Vitex negundo*): Lamiaceae, subfamily Viticoideae; Vitex is a genus of shrubs and trees of warm regions worldwide, native to The Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, southeast Asia, southern and central China, and parts of East Africa; widely naturalised in the American tropics.

LATIN NAME: Vitex negundo

COMMON NAME: Five-Leaved Chaste Tree, Chinese Chaste Tree

Plant Profile

The leaves are the signature. They are divided palmately into five narrow, pointed leaflets, with a sixth leaflet often enough on a strong shoot, and the underside carries a grey, felted covering that shows clearly when the leaf turns in the wind. That indumentum thins as the leaf ages and gives the whole shrub a soft, dusty look in a hot garden. The stems are grey and slender and the plant leans rather than stands, which is why old plants tend to be flatter on top than the books suggest.

Late in summer the shrub covers itself in slender, upright spikes of small two-lipped flowers in blue, lavender and mauve, opening from the bottom of each spike upward so that a single panicle carries buds, open flowers and developing fruit at once. The stamens are long and exserted, which suits the bees that work the shrub patiently from the base of each spike towards the tip. The scent of the flowers is lighter and sweeter than the smell of the leaf.

Three species of the same genus turn up in warm-climate gardens and they are easy to muddle. Vitex trifolia has three leaflets rather than five and grows naturally along shorelines; Vitex rotundifolia rolls its single rounded leaf on coastal sand and makes a ground-hugging mat. The Mediterranean Vitex agnus-castus has much larger, broader leaflets and fatter spikes of violet flowers, and it is the species behind the old name chaste tree, adopted long ago from the belief that its fruit suppressed desire.

Science & Biotechnology

The bitter chemistry of the leaf is dominated by iridoid glycosides, among them negundoside, named for the plant itself, and agnuside, which it shares with the Mediterranean chaste tree. Aucubin is present as well. In the fruit the flavonoid casticin has been the compound of interest to laboratories, while the leaf oil is built largely around beta-caryophyllene with a supporting cast of monoterpenes. The same shrub that smells of sage when crushed carries a bitter principle that has been extracted and described for a very long time.

Uses & Benefits

The most widespread domestic use is smoke. Bunches of dry leafy stems are burned in the evening in cattle sheds and courtyards, and the same bundles are laid among stored grain to keep insects out of the sack. In eastern India a few leaflets are laid over fish before it is steamed, where the camphor note cuts through the oil of river fish, and the tough grey wood is cut for tool handles and light poles.

For the kitchen the rule is restraint. The bitterness of the leaf is real, and it is the reason most culinary use of the plant is aromatic rather than substantial. The dried leaf keeps its scent for months in a closed jar, and a handful dropped into a bath or a footbath is a pleasant way to use the end of the season’s growth.

Growing from Seed

The seed coat is hard and the seed keeps its ability to sprout for a long time in store, so soak it in warm water overnight before sowing. Work with a mix of two parts loam, one part compost and one part sharp grit, set the seed about twice its own width deep, and keep the pan warm under cover. Pinch the leading shoot once or twice to make a bushy frame, and expect the first real flowering spikes in the second or third season.

Flowers are produced on the current season’s growth, which means the shrub can be cut hard in late winter without losing the display. Take the previous year’s shoots back to two or three buds from the old wood, thin out the weakest stems at the base, and you will get longer, cleaner spikes in late summer. Left unpruned the plant becomes a leggy thicket that flowers only at the top, out of easy reach and out of easy view.

Established plants take prolonged drought without complaint, but they sulk in heavy clay that stays wet through winter. Plant on a slight mound or in a raised bed with grit worked into the soil, water generously through the first summer, and then treat the plant as a dry-garden subject. Wind scorch does more damage than cold in most gardens, so give it a spot with afternoon shelter.

Our Take

I grow the five-leaved chaste tree for the last month of summer, when the blue spikes arrive just as the border is running out of ideas, and for the aromatic leaves that keep the plant worth touching the rest of the year. Give it room, cut it hard, and keep it dry over winter. If the blue-spike habit appeals, Vitex trifolia and Vitex rotundifolia extend it to coastal gardens, and among the softer mints Korean mint brings the same late-summer bee traffic.

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