Common Names for Vitex Negundo

Vitex Negundo is a perennial shrub or small tree. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the shrub blooms in late spring in the southern states of Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Oklahoma. The vibrant purple flowers attract bees and butterflies. The plant is popular with beekeepers because it promotes honey production.



The plant grows in many regions of the world and is known by many names.

US Common Names

• Negundo Chastetree is one common name for this plant. Negundo distinguishes this Chastetree species from Vitex Agnus Castus. According to the USDA, the Negundo variety is more cold hardy than the Agnus version.

  Cut-Leaf Chastetree, Cut-Leaf Vitex and Five-leaved Chastetree are common names for this plant. The leaves on this plant are serrated with five parted sections on each side of the leaf. The Japanese Cut-Leaf Maple has similar leaf structure.

English Common Names

• Some additional common English names for this plant include: Chastetree, Chasteberry, Cut-Leaf Chastetree, Gattilier Incise, Horseshoe Vitex and Indian Privet. The Chastetree is native to many parts of Europe and was commonly used by Medieval monks to preserve their vows of chastity.

Philippino Common Name

• The Philippines call this plant Lagundi. The Philippine Department of Health recognizes the use of the plant for treatment of colds, flu, pharyngitis and asthma. According to Junji Takano at PyroEnergen, Japanese pharmaceutical companies import Lagundi from the Philippines

Malaysian Common Name

• Malaysian, Moldavian and Tagalog people similarly call this plant Lenggundi. These cultures also have traditional medicinal knowledge of the plant. In "Maylay Village Medicine," Burkhill and Hanniff report that a drop of Lenggundi juice squeezed into the eye is a treatment for demonic possession.

Sanskrit Common Name

• Nirgundi is the Sanskrit name for this plant. The name refers to the medicinal properties of the plant and means "that which protects the body from disease."

Chinese Common Names

• In China, this plan is commonly known as Huang Ping, Huang Ching and Man Ching. Vitex Negundo is also native to China and has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. Chinese Chastetree is another common English name that acknowledges the Chinese history of this plant.

Assorted Other Common Names

• There are many other common names in other cultures. The Bengali name for this plant Samalu. The Nepali similarly call this plant Simali. The Arabic and Hindi common name is Nirgundi and the Portuguese name Negundo is similar. The Thai common names include khonthi, khemao or kunning.