Vitex agunus-castus (chaste tree, "Seiyoninjinboku")

Japanese name: セイヨウニンジンボク （西洋人参木）
Scientific name: Vitex agunus-castus

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 1–5 m tall.
The whole plant is aromatic.
The branches have 4 ridges and bear soft gray hairs.
Leaves are opposite palmately compound, consisting of 5–7 leaflets.
The terminal leaflet is lanceolate, 5–10 cm long, gray-green above, and grayish white beneath with dense fine hairs.
The leaf margins are almost entire.
The leaflets have stalks.
Panicles 15 cm long are produced at the branch tips.
The flowers are pale bluish purple or white, and the tip of the corolla is divided into 5 lobes in a two-lipped form.
There are 4 stamens, which protrude outside the flower.
The fruit is a spherical drupe.

[History]
It was introduced to Japan in the middle of the Meiji period.

[Uses]
The fruit is used medicinally and as a fragrance.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
It prefers well-drained soil in sun to partial shade.
Avoid places exposed to dry, cold winter winds.
The roots are coarse and it dislikes being transplanted.
It grows fast and is a wide-spreading tree, so the planting site needs a width about equal to the tree's height.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply organic fertilizer in winter.
Because the tree is enjoyed for its natural form, prune little, only cutting dead branches at the base.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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