Botanical Name

Vitex negundo

Family

Lamiaceae

Sanskrit name

English name

Five leaved chaste trees

Hindi name

Kali nirgundi

Kannada name

Lakki

Habit

Shrub to medium sized tree

Habitat

Commonly found near bodies of water, recently disturbed land, grasslands, and mixed open forests

Plant Description

It is an erect shrub or small tree with reddish brown bark, leaves digitate, with five lanceolateleaflets. The numerous flowers are borne in panicles and are white to blue in colour. The petals are of different lengths, with the middle lower lobe being the longest. Both the corolla and calyx are covered in dense hairs. The fruit is a succulent drupe, rounded to egg-shape. It is black or purple when ripe

Distribution

Throughout the warmer regions of the world