CHAP. LXXXVII. VERBENA‘CEX. VI‘TEX. 1285 
CHAP. LXXXVII. 
OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER VERBENA‘CEX, 
Tuts order, which is closely allied to Labiacea, consists chiefly of plants 
natives of tropical countries; and, among these, the most remarkable is the 
Yéctona grandis L., or teak tree, the oak of India. This tree, Mr. Royle informs 
us, has been planted as far north as Saharunpore, lat. 29° 57’ N., or about 
the parallel of the Canary Islands ; from which we should think it might be 
grown in the south of England against a wall. 
Genus I. 
bs 4 
. 
La! 
VY'TEX L, Tue Caaste Tree, Lin. Syst. Didynamia Angiospérmia. 
Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 790. ; Reich, No. 853. ; Schreb., No. 1060. ; Tourn., t. 373. ; Juss., 107. ; 
Core t. 56.; Mill. Icon., t. 275, ; N. Du Ham., 6. p. 115.; Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bot., p. 278.; Don’s 
ill., 4. 
Synonymes. Gatilier, Fr. ; Kenschbaum, Ger. 
Derivation. From vieo, to bind, as with an osier; in reference to the flexibility of the shoots. 
Gen. Char., §c. Calyx short, 5-toothed. Corolla bilabiate; upper lip bifid, 
lower one trifid ; middle segment of the lower lip the largest. Stamens 4. 
didynamous, ascending. Stigma bifid. Drupe containing a 4-celled nut. 
Cells 1-seeded. (Don’s Mill., iv.) — Deciduous shrubs and trees, natives of 
the south of Europe, India, China, and North America. The only hardy 
species is a native of Sicily. 
% 1, V. A’anus ca’stus L. The officinal, or true, Chaste Tree. 
Identification. Lin. Sp., 890. ; Lam. Dict., 2. p. 611. ; Don’s Mill., 4. 
Synonymes. Eleagnum Theophrasté Lob. Icon., 2. 138. ; A’gnus castus Blackw. ; Arbre au Poivre, 
Poivre sauvage, J’r. 
Engravings. Blackw. Herb., t.129.; N. Du Ham., 6. t. 35. ; and our/jig. 1152. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves opposite, digitate, 7—5-lobed: leaflets lanceolate, 
mostly quite entire, hoary beneath. Racemes terminal, panicled. Flowers 
verticillate. (Don’s Mill.,iv.) A shrub, of the height of 5 ft. or 6 ft., which 
produces its white, bluish white, and sometimes red- 
dish white, flowers in September. It is a native of 
Sicily, Naples, the north of Africa, and Egypt, and 
has been in cultivation since 1570. In favourable 
situations, in the neighbourhood of London, it 
grows to the height of 8ft. or 10ft. The flowers 
are produced in spikes at the extremities of the 
branches, from 7in, to 15in. in length. In fine 
seasons, they appear in September, but in bad 
autummns not till October ; and then they never ex- 
pand freely. Its flowers have an agreeable odour; | 
but the leaves have an unpleasant smell, although 
aromatic. No seeds are produced in England. 
The plant received the name of chaste from the 
Greeks; because, according to Pliny, the Athenian 
matrons, during the festival in honour of Ceres, called 
Thesmophoria, when they were dressed in white 
robes, and enjoined to preserve the strictest chastity, 
strewed their beds with it. The seeds Bergius states to be carminative ; 
and those of Vitex trifolia Z.,a native of India and China, are much used, 
on this account, by Indian practitioners. The plant grows freely in any soil 
that is tolerably dry; and it is readily propagated by cuttings, put in in 
autumn, and protected with a hand-glass. Price of plants, in the London 
nurseries, ls. 6d.; at Bollwyller, 1 franc 50 cents; and at New York, 50 cents, 
4p 4 
