Lamiaceae
Vitex

Vitex bicolor Willd.

First published in Enum. Pl. Hort. Berol.: 660 (1809)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Kenya to S. Africa and Pacific. It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Flora Zambesiaca. Vol 8, Pt 7. Avicenniaceae, R. Fernandes. Nesogenaceae, M.A. Diniz. Verbenaceae, R. Fernandes. Lamiaceae, R. Fernandes. 2005.

Type
Type from India.
Morphology General Habit
Small deciduous shrub
Morphology Leaves Leaflets
Leaflets 1–5, lanceolate, discolorous, glabrous above and white-tomentose beneath with the tomentum obscuring the whole lower surface
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences terminal and axillary in upper leaf axils, comprised of much branched panicles of many-flowered cymes
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers small, blue, lavender or purple, 3–5 mm in diameter; corolla limb lower lip with a semicircular line of dense hairs at the base near the throat; drupe c. 5 mm long and wide.
Note
The taxonomy and nomenclature of V. trifolia s.l. is complex.  A discussion of its synonymy and distribution has been provided by Moldenke (loc. cit., 1983).  Here, I have followed Verdcourt (loc. cit., 1992) in calling our taxon V. trifolia var. bicolor , although in much African literature the name V. negundo has been used.  Verdcourt considered V. trifolia var. bicolor to be native in East Africa, but in the Flora Zambesiaca area I have only seen two apparently cultivated/naturalized specimens from Mozambique ( Groenendijk & Dungo 578; Balsinhas 2260).  The main area of distribution of V. trifolia/V. negundo is the Indian subcontinent and tropical and subtropical SE Asia.
[FZ]

M. Thulin. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1–4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Distribution
Widespread along coasts of the Old World tropics and also widely cultivated.
Morphology Leaves Leaflets
Leaflets often 5, the 3 middle ones with distinct petiolules, entire
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Cymes of panicle distinctly stalked.
[FSOM]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0