179
Vitex
leucoxylon L. f.
Synonym : Wallrothia leucoxylon (L.
f.) Roth
Family
: Verbenaceae
Local Names
: Attunochi, Beemis,
Neernochi, Vellanotchi
Flowering
and fruiting period:
March – July
Distribution: Peninsular India and Sri Lanka
Habitat: Along river banks in evergreen and
semi-evergreen forests
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: No
Uses: The bark is astringent. The root is astringent. It is used in the
treatment of intermittent fever. The leaves are smoked as a treatment for
catarrh and headaches. The fruit is vermifuge. A useful wood, used for making
cart wheels, it could also be useful for making furniture.
Key
Characters:
Deciduous trees, to 20 m high, bark
yellowish-grey, rough. Leaves opposite, decussate, whorled, elliptic-oblong.
Flowers bisexual, in axillary corymbose cymes. Calyx cupular, 5-toothed.
Corolla white, bilipped, purplish-pubescent in the throat; lobes 5. Stamens 4,
didynamous; anthers purple. Ovary superior,
