4742

5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers

Vitex altissima L.f.

This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Vitex in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.

Suppl. pl.: 294 (1782).

India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indo-China, Sumatra and New Guinea; possibly also Java.

The timber is used for construction, cabinet-work, furniture, turnery, agricultural implements and cart wheels; it is highly prized in India and Sri Lanka. A yellow dye can be extracted from the wood. The juice from the bark is used externally against rheumatic swellings and chest pains. The tree seems to have good prospects as an ornamental.

A medium-sized tree up to 25(—33) m tall; leaves 3-foliolate, petiole winged towards the apex, leaflets slightly pubescent below; inflorescence axillary and terminal, paniculate; calyx lobes subequal, c. 1 mm long, corolla whitish-purple to violet; fruit subglobose, 5—8 mm in diameter, bluish-black when mature. Vitex altissima is common in forests in India and Sri Lanka, but probably rather rare in Malesia. The density of the wood is 800—1010 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content; the wood is hard and durable.

[36]Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1963–1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen.
[115]Dahms, K.-G., 1982. Asiatische, ozeanische und australische Exporthölzer [Asiatic, Pacific and Australian export timbers]. DRW-Verlag, Stuttgart. 304 pp.
[120]Dassanayake, M.D. & Fosberg, F.R. (Editors), 1980–. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Amerind Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
[185]Gamble, J.S., 1922. A manual of Indian timbers. 2nd edition. Sampsom Low, Marston & Company, London. 868 pp.
[234]Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlands-Indid [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition, 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch-Indid, 's-Gravenhage. 1953 pp.
[344]Lam, H.J. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1921. Revision of the Verbenaceae of the Dutch East Indies and surrounding countries. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg, STrie III, 3: 1–116.
[438]Moldenke, H.N., 1955. Materials toward a monograph of the genus Vitex II. Phytologia 5(5): 186–224.
[648]Troup, R.S., 1921. Silviculture of Indian trees. 3 volumes. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
[706]Whitmore, T.C., Tantra, I.G.M. & Sutisna, U., 1986–1990. Tree flora of Indonesia. Checklists for Sumatra, Sulawesi, Bali, Nusa Tengara & Timor, Maluku and Kalimantan. 6 volumes. Agency for Forestry Research and Development, Forest Research and Development Centre, Bogor.

R.H.M.J. Lemmens

Lemmens, R.H.M.J., 1995. Vitex altissima L.f.. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Soerianegara, I. and Wong, W.C. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea