Vitex , or thistle ( lat. Vítex ) - a genus of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs of the family Iasnotkovye (previously referred to the Verbena family ) [2] [3] [4] .
| Vitex | |||||||||||||||||||
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Vitex L. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Content
- 1 Botanical Description
- 2 Distribution and ecology
- 3 Types
- 4 Meaning and application
- 5 Gallery
- 6 notes
Botanical Description
Botanical illustration from the book by Francisco Manuel Blanco Flora de Filipinas , 1880-1883
Deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs up to 10 m high.
The leaves are opposite, palmate (with three to seven leaflets), grayish-green, slightly pubescent, long-leaved.
The flowers are small, white, yellowish, red or various shades of blue; collected in large, dense cluster- shaped or paniculate inflorescences .
Distribution and Ecology
The birthplace of the plant is the Mediterranean . It grows mainly in temperate , subtropical and tropical climates.
Views
According to the database of The Plant List , the genus includes 223 species [5] . Some of them:
- Vitex agnus-castus L. - Ordinary Vitex , or Holy Vitex , Ordinary Ordinary , or Abraham Tree , or Lamb Immaculate
- Vitex lucens Kirk - Puri
- Vitex pinnata L. - Cirrus thistle
- Vitex trifolia L. - Vitex three-leafed , or Three-leafed Barb
Meaning and Application
Some types of Vitex are bred as decorative, many give valuable wood .
There are indications of the antimalarial properties of certain species: Vitex vulgaris, Vitex negundo and Vitex peduncularis [6] .
The fruits and grass of the common barbell are included in the European Pharmacopoeia, BTF and pharmacopoeias of a number of European countries. In addition, in Western European and Asian medicine, fruits are used for insufficient lactation , menstrual irregularities, and also as a diuretic and irritant. The fruits of the Chinese chickweed contain essential oil ( cineole , pinene ), flavonoids , iridoid glycosides . Its leaves and roots are used for antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, diuretic, and also anthelmintic purposes [7] .
Gallery
From left to right: Leaves and inflorescence of the sacred Vitex . Vitex lucens flower. The fruits of Vitex are three-leafed . | ||||||||||
Notes
- ↑ For the conventionality of indicating the class of dicotyledons as a superior taxon for the plant group described in this article, see the APG Systems section of the Dicotyledonous article .
- ↑ List of Genera in LAMIACEAE . Angiosperm Phylogeny Website . Date of treatment February 27, 2008. Archived February 26, 2012.
- ↑ Ray Harley, “In search of Labiatae in Eastern Brazil,” Vitex: A Newsletter for Lamiaceae & Verbenaceae Research , ISSN 1470-0123, Issue 1 , February 2000, page 5.
- ↑ Systematics of Lamiaceae Subfamily Viticoideae Neopr (Link unavailable) . Date of treatment February 27, 2008. Archived on September 7, 2008.
- ↑ Vitex . The Plant List . Version 1.1. (2013). Date of treatment August 8, 2016.
- ↑ Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medicinal, Essential Oil and Poisonous Plants / Comp. G. S. Ogolevets. - M .: Selkhozgiz, 1951. - S. 5. - 584 p.
- ↑ Great Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medicinal Plants, 2015, p. 444