Vitex negundo Seeds | Five-leaved Chaste Tree
LATIN NAME: Vitex negundo
COMMON NAME: Five-Leaved Chaste Tree, Chinese Chaste Tree
Plant Profile
A distinctive member of its genus, Five-Leaved Chaste Tree (Vitex negundo) is a graceful, aromatic shrub in the mint family, native to a wide belt across Asia, from India through China and into southeast Asia. It grows as a loose, open shrub or small tree, usually two or three metres tall, with slender, greyish branches and palm-shaped leaves divided into five narrow leaflets, each with a pleasant, spicy scent when crushed. Add these qualities together and you have a species well worth a place in the garden.
Science & Biotechnology
Botanists studying the mint family regularly include Vitex negundo in comparative work, and the species also appears in horticultural trials aimed at gardeners and growers. Five-leaved chaste tree is a serious subject of natural-products research. Its behaviour in gardens is well recorded, thanks to a long history in cultivation.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Five-Leaved Chaste Tree for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. Its blue flower spikes feed bees, butterflies and other pollinators through late summer, and its dense growth gives shelter for birds and insects. It thrives in hot, dry places where many plants struggle. Once it has its roots down, it more or less looks after itself.
Chaste tree berry, Vitex agnus-castus, is the leading evidence-based herb for premenstrual comfort, with human trials and official German monographs; its Chinese cousin’s fruit, Man Jing Zi, clears heat from the head and eyes.
Growing from Seed
Five-Leaved Chaste Tree grows readily from seed. Growing five-leaved chaste tree from seed is easy and gives good results. Small, round seeds do well in warm, light conditions, so sow them in late winter or spring on surface of a tray of free-draining seed compost, press them in gently, and keep them warm, bright and lightly moist. Sow evenly over the surface and cover lightly into a loose, well-drained seed compost, water in gently, and keep the sowing in full sun with steady moisture. Move strong seedlings into individual pots, keep them in good light, and set them out when the weather and their size agree.
Our Take
Among the Vitex group, it is one of the more distinctive species in cultivation. Given full sun and free drainage, it asks for little routine attention.
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