Vitex negundo
| Vitex negundo | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 8 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 10' |
| Width: | 10' |
| Speed: | Moderate |
| Blooms: | Early Fall-Mid Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Vitex negundo (common name: huang ping)
Propagation: Seed - sow March in a greenhouse. It does not need any pre-treatment[1]. Germination is usually free and quick. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer of the following year.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 8cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Good percentage[2].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current seasons growth, November in a cold frame[1].
Cultivation: An easily grown plant, it prefers a light well-drained loamy soil in a warm sunny position sheltered from cold drying winds[3][4]. Succeeds in poor dry soils[5].
Plants tolerate temperatures down to about -10°c[4]. They are not very hardy in Britain, they succeed outdoors at Kew[K], but in general are best given the protection of a sunny wall outside the milder areas of the country[6]. Plants only flower freely after a warm summer, so they are best grown against a sunny wall even in areas where they are hardy[7]. The flowers are produced so late in the season that they are unlikely to produce viable seed in this country even if they flower properly[K]. The plants require abundant summer sunshine in order to ripen their wood fully, the well-ripened wood is more frost resistant[6][8].
There are some named forms, selected for their ornamental value[7].
The leaves and stems are strongly aromatic[9]. The flowers have a most pronounced musk-like perfume[10].
Range: E. Asia - Southwest China to the Himalayas.
Habitat: Wasteland up to 2000 metres in the Himalayas[11]. Mixed thickets on mountain slopes at elevations of 200 - 1400 metres in China[12].
Edibility: Seed - occasionally used as a condiment[13][14], it is a pepper substitute. When washed to remove the bitterness it can be ground into a powder and used as a flour[15], though it is very much a famine food used only when all else fails[13].
A tea is made from the roots and leaves[13][14].
Medicinal: This species is widely used in Chinese herbal medicine, it is the second most important treatment for chronic bronchitis[16]. (The sub-species V. negundo cannabifolia (Sieb.&Zucc.)Hand-Mazz. is used.)
The leaves are astringent, febrifuge, sedative, tonic and vermifuge[17][18][19][16][20]. They are useful in dispersing swellings of the joints from acute rheumatism, and of the testes from suppressed gonorrhoea[20]. The juice of the leaves is used for removing foetid discharges and worms from ulcers, whilst an oil prepared with the leaf juice is applied to sinuses and scrofulous sores[20].They are harvested in early summer and used fresh or dried[5].
A decoction of the stems is used in the treatment of burns and scalds[16].
The dried fruit is vermifuge[20]. The fruit is also used in the treatment of angina, colds, coughs, rheumatic difficulties etc[16]. The fresh berries are pounded to a pulp and used in the form of a tincture for the relief of paralysis, pains in the limbs, weakness etc[21].
The root is expectorant, febrifuge and tonic[20]. It is used in the treatment of colds and rheumatic ailments[16]. It is harvested in late summer and autumn, and dried for later use[5].
The plant is said to be a malarial preventative and is also used in the treatment of bacterial dysentery - extracts of the leaves have shown bactericidal and antitumor activity[16].
Usage: Young stems are used in basket making and for making wattles[11][17][22][23].
The leaves are used to repel insects in grain stores[11][17]. Extracts of the leaves have insecticidal activity[16]. The fresh leaves are burnt with grass as a fumigant against mosquitoes[5].
The plant is grown on slopes to counter land slides[23].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: V. incisa.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dirr, Michael and Charles Heuser. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press, 1987.
- ↑ Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Grey-Wilson, Christopher and Victoria Matthews. Gardening on Walls. Collins, 1983.
- ↑ Taylor, Jane. The Milder Garden. Dent, 1990.
- ↑ Thomas, Graham. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray, 1992.
- ↑ Genders, Roy. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale, 1994.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Polunin, Oleg and Adam Stainton. Flowers of the Himalayas. Oxford Universtiy Press, 1984.
- ↑ Flora of China. 1994.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 Duke, James and Edward Ayensu. Medicinal Plants of China. Reference Publications, 1985.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Gamble, James. A Manual of Indian Timbers. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, 1972.
- ↑ Revolutionary Health Committee of Hunan Province. A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press.
- ↑ Stuart, George. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei Southern Materials Centre.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.
- ↑ Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Gupta, Basant. Forest Flora of Chakrata, Dehra Dun and Saharanpur. Forest Research Institute Press, 1945.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Manandhar, Narayan. Plants and People of Nepal. Timber Press, 2002.