Vitex negundo L.
| Kannada Name : | Karilakki, Lakkigida |
| Common Name : | Chaste tree |
| Family Name : | Lamiaceae |
| Scientific Name : | Vitex negundo |
| Species Type : | Indigenous |
| Phenology : | Evergreen |
| Conservation Status : | Not known |
| Flowering Period : | April - August |
| Fruiting Period : | February - July |
| Origin : | Eastern and Southern Africa and Asia |
Uses
It is used for treating stored garlic against pests and as a cough remedy. It is also used in traditional herbal medicine for women's health, including treatments for regulating the menstrual cycle, fibrocystic breast disease and post-partum remedies.
Description
Shrubs or small evergreen trees, whitish to greyish tomentose except the upper surface of leaves and fruits, branchlets quadrangular. Leaves compound, 3-5 foliate, opposite-decussate, leaflets usually narrowly oblong or elliptic to lanceolate, chartaceous, dark green sparsely pubescent above, paler grayish pubescent beneath, base acute, apex acuminate, margin entire or serrate. Inflorescence a terminal panicle. Flowers bisexual, small, usually blue or violet, subsessile to shortly pedicelled. Fruit is a drupe subglobose or somewhat ovoid, usually 4-celled, with 1 seed in each cell.
