Vitex trifoliaL.

simpleleaf chastetree

WFO wfo-0000333504 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Vitex trifolia, photographed by elawrey
fig. a elawrey, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-10-08 / obs. 162231688
Vitex trifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. b Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 138267662
Vitex trifolia, photographed by Beah Vega
fig. c Beah Vega, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 116574139
Vitex trifolia, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. d Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 89985909
Vitex trifolia, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. e Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 89981627
Vitex trifolia, photographed by Juan Cruzado Cortés
fig. f Juan Cruzado Cortés, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 60505760
Vitex trifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. g Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 23505839
Vitex trifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. h Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 23505727

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 61 botanical countries

Regions where Vitex trifolia is native: Comoros, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, Afghanistan, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Iran, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Caroline Is., Cook Is., Fiji, Gilbert Is., Line Is., Marianas, Marquesas, Marshall Is., Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Samoa, Society Is., Tonga, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Vanuatu, Wake I., Wallis-Futuna Is. KenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMozambiqueSomaliaTanzaniaAfghanistanChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanIranTaiwanAssamBangladeshBismarck ArchipelagoBorneoCambodiaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern AustraliaFijiNew Caledonia ComorosMauritiusNansei-shotoAndaman Is.Caroline Is.Cook Is.Line Is.MarianasMarquesasMarshall Is.NauruNiueSamoaSociety Is.TongaTuamotuTubuai Is.VanuatuWake I.Wallis-Futuna Is.
Native distribution of Vitex trifolia, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Cook Is. COO
Fiji FIJ
Gilbert Is. GIL
Line Is. LIN
Marianas MRN
Marquesas MRQ
Marshall Is. MRS
Nauru NRU
New Caledonia NWC
Niue NUE
Samoa SAM
Society Is. SCI
Tonga TON
Tuamotu TUA
Tubuai Is. TUB
Vanuatu VAN
Wake I. WAK
Wallis-Futuna Is. WAL
Comoros COM AFRICA
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Somalia SOM
Tanzania TAN
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Iran IRN
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU

Not drawn on the map: Gilbert Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 111 in flower of 137 examined

Peak flowering in May. Each bar is the share of Vitex trifolia observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 111 of 137 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 23 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Vitex agnus-castus var. javanica Kuntze
  • Vitex agnus-castus var. subtrisecta Kuntze
  • Vitex agnus-castus var. trifolia (L.) Kurz
  • Vitex benthamiana Domin
  • Vitex indica Mill.
  • Vitex integerrima Mill.
  • Vitex iriomotensis Ohwi
  • Vitex langundi W.G.Maxwell
  • Vitex neocaledonica Gand.
  • Vitex paniculata Lam.
  • Vitex petiolaris Domin
  • Vitex rotundifolia f. heterophylla (Makino ex H.Hara) Kitam.
  • Vitex rotundifolia var. heterophylla Makino ex H.Hara
  • Vitex taihangensis L.B.Guo & S.Q.Zhou
  • Vitex trifolia f. albiflora Moldenke
  • Vitex trifolia var. acutifolia Benth.
  • Vitex trifolia var. heterophylla (Makino ex H.Hara) Moldenke
  • Vitex trifolia var. parviflora Benth.
  • Vitex trifolia var. subtrisecta (Kuntze) Moldenke
  • Vitex trifolia var. trifoliolata Schauer
  • Vitex trifolia var. variegata Moldenke
  • Vitex triphylla Royle
  • Vitex variifolia Salisb.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.