478

12(1): Medicinal and poisonous plants 1

Vitex glabrata R.Br.

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

Prodr.: 512 (1810).

Vitex minahassae Koord. (1898), Vitex helogiton K. Schumann (1905), Vitex pentaphylla Merr. (1909).

Indonesia: bihbul (Sundanese), gentileng, ketileng (Javanese). Philippines: bongoog (general), ampapalut (Balabac), talang-pulo (Camarines). Cambodia: popoul ach, popoul tuk. Laos: 'khi² hen, 'khi² nok, tin nok. Thailand: khainao (general), khee hen (north-eastern), khom khwaan (central). Vietnam: ma, b[if]nh linh nh[awx]n.

India, Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia (rare), Java, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Timor, New Guinea and northern Australia.

The root and bark are astringent. The bark is used as an anthelmintic and as a remedy for gastro-intestinal disorders. The fruit and bark are applied as a component of masticatories. The timber is used for house construction, furniture, cart-wheels and oars. The fruits are edible. In India (Assam), Vitex glabrata has been recommended for planting in tea plantations for shade and wood.

A medium-sized tree up to 25 m tall, bole branchless for up to 15 m, up to 125 cm in diameter, bark surface smooth, ash-grey; leaflets 3-5(-6), elliptical-oblong to elliptical-obovate, glabrous above, except for the larger veins, glabrous to pubescent below, especially in the primary vein axils, petioluled, median leaflet 11-31 cm x 4-13.5 cm, with 12-17 pairs of lateral veins; cymes axillary, solitary, lax, 7-22 cm long; calyx 3-4 mm long, with 5 small teeth, corolla yellowish-white, tube villous inside, median segment of lower lip blue-violet; fruit ovoid or obovoid, 1.2-2.5 cm long, purplish-black when mature. Vitex glabrata occurs in mixed evergreen forest, often along forest edges, sometimes also in deciduous forest or grassland, up to 1000 m altitude. In Burma (Myanmar) it is often associated with teak (Tectona grandis L.f.).

[97] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
[287] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948-1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
[580] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
[809] Lam, H.J., 1919. The Verbenaceae of the Malayan Archipelago. M. de Waal, Groningen, the Netherlands. 370 pp.
[810] 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, Série III, 3: 1-116.
[969] Moldenke, H.N., 1956. Materials towards a monograph of the genus Vitex. V. Phytologia 5(8): 343-393.
[1067] Oey Djoen Seng, 1951. De soortelijke gewichten van Indonesische houtsoorten en hun betekenis voor de praktijk [Specific gravity of Indonesian woods and its significance for practical use]. Rapport No 46. Bosbouwproefstation, Bogor, Indonesia. 183 pp.
[1128] Pételot, A., 1952-1954. Les plantes médicinales du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [The medicinal plants of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. 4 volumes. Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Techniques, Saigon, Vietnam.
[1215] Reyes, L.J., 1938. Philippine woods. Technical Bulletin No 7. Commonwealth of the Philippines, Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. 536 pp. + 88 plates.
[1413] Sunarno, B., Lemmens, R.H.M.J. & Ani binti Sulaiman, 1995. Vitex L. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Soerianegara, I. & Wong, W.C. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(2). Timber trees: Minor commercial timbers. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, the Netherlands. pp. 502-509.
[1562] Werawattanametin, K., Podimuang, V. & Suksamrarn, A., 1986. Ecdysteroids from Vitex glabrata. Journal of Natural Products 49(2): 365-366.

E.P. Capareda

Capareda, E.P., 1999. Vitex glabrata R.Br.. In: de Padua, L.S., Bunyapraphatsara, N. and Lemmens, R.H.M.J. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(1): Medicinal and poisonous plants 1. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea