Vitex madiensis Oliv.

 
  • Family : VERBENACEAE
    (Verbena Or Vervain Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : SAGVAN FAMILY (सागवान फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System IV) : Lamiaceae
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Vitex madiensis Oliv.
  • Common name : Garden vitex
  • Vernacular name :
    • Nocchi (Tamil)
  • Habit : Shrub or Tree
  • Habitat : Cultivated
  • Key identification features : Shrub or small tree, typically growing to a height of 3–8 meters, annual stems arising from a massive underground woody rootstock; Bark fissured, dark red-brown in older stems, yound stems being shortly tomentose, having reddish-brown buds; Young parts densely pubescent, giving velvety texture; Leaves aromatic when crushed, appear in whorls of 3, with a (3)5(6)-foliolate arrangement, yellow-green when dried, petiole 7-16cm long, grooved, leaflets 6–17 × 4–9 cm, with the median leaflet being the largest, elliptic, narrow-broadly obovate or oblanceolate, apex rounded or shortly acuminate, base rounded, cordate or cuneate, coriaceous, entire or coarsely shallowly crenate in upper half, glabrous, often shining above, undersides pubescent on the nerves, conspicuously raised reticulate beneath; Inflorescence axillary, compound dichasia, 5-19cm long, tomentose, stiff, patent, cream-coloured hairs, bracteoles 0.6-1.2cm long, linear, slightly aromatic when crushed; Calyx deep purplish-violet, obconical, with 5 teeth, gland-dotted, pubescent to tomentose, calyx is accrescent in fruit, with a tube length of 2.5–3.5 mm, teeth measuring about 0.7–1.5 mm long, erect; Corolla 8–12 mm long, gland-dotted, pubescent to tomentose, tube greenish-cream or greenish-mauve, 4.5–6.5 mm long, curved, lobes at an obtuse angle to the tube, ranging from dull pale mauve to lilac-violet or brilliant purple; Stamens slightly exserted from the corolla tube, with glandular hairs on the filaments; Ovary globose, with few glands, style 4-5mm long; Fruit drupe, ellipsoid, 2 × 1.3–1.8 cm, rounded at the apex, purplish-black at maturity, often white-spotted, with an oblong-ellipsoid, globose, or obovoid.
  • Flower, Fruit : May-January
  • Distribution :
    • Tamil Nadu : Chennai district
  • Native : Angola, Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cabinda, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Tropical Africa
  • Literature :
    • Narasimhan, D. & Irwin, Sheeba. (2021). Flowering Plants of Tamil Nadu: A Compendium.
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : https://indiatrees-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Vitex madiensis
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Trees and Vegetation Types. Vitex madiensis. Downloaded on 3 October 2026.

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

GBIF Distribution
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