Vitex agnus-castus

Vitex agnus-castus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Vitex
Species:
V. agnus-castus
Binomial name
Vitex agnus-castus

Vitex agnus-castus (also called vitex, chaste tree / chastetree, chasteberry, Abraham's balm, lilac chastetree, or monk's pepper) is a plant native of the Mediterranean region. It is one of the few temperate-zone species of Vitex, which is on the whole a genus of tropical and subtropical flowering plants. Vitex is a cross-pollinating plant, but its self-pollination has been recorded.

Theophrastus mentioned the shrub several times, as agnos (ἄγνος) in Enquiry into Plants. It has been long believed to be an anaphrodisiac leading to its name as "chaste tree" but its effectiveness for such action remains unproven. The shrub was utilized for religious rituals in ancient Greece and among the Philistines in modern-day Israel.