Editing Vitex agnus-castus (section)

{{short description|Species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Vitex agnus-castus 1.JPG
| status = DD
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Vitex
| species = agnus-castus
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

'''''Vitex agnus-castus''''' (also called '''vitex''',  '''chaste tree''' / '''chastetree''', '''chasteberry''', '''Abraham's balm''',<ref>''New English Dictionary'', ''s.v.'' "Chaste-tree".</ref> '''lilac chastetree''',<ref>{{PLANTS|id=VIAG|taxon=Vitex agnus-castus|access-date=6 August 2015}}</ref> or '''monk's pepper''') is a plant native of the [[Mediterranean region]]. It is one of the few temperate-zone species of ''[[Vitex]]'', which is on the whole a genus of tropical and subtropical [[flowering plant]]s.<ref name="mabberley2008">David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK.</ref> Vitex is a [[Allogamy|cross-pollinating]] plant, but its [[self-pollination]] has been recorded.<ref name="Verein für Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen Saluplanta2013">Verein für Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen Saluplanta. 2013. ''Handbuch des Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzenbaus'' volume 5 Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen L–Z, pages 192–199. Verein für Arznei- und Gewürzpflanzen Saluplanta: Bernburg, Germany. {{ISBN|978-3-935971-64-5}} (set).</ref>

[[Theophrastus]] mentioned the shrub several times, as ''agnos'' (ἄγνος) in ''Enquiry into Plants''. It has been long believed to be an [[anaphrodisiac]] &ndash; leading to its name as "chaste tree" &ndash; but its effectiveness for such action remains unproven.<ref name="drugs">{{cite web |publisher=Drugs.com  |title=Chaste tree |url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/chaste-tree.html |date=9 October 2017|access-date=20 August 2019 }}</ref> The shrub was utilized for religious rituals in [[ancient Greece]] and among the [[Philistines]] in modern-day [[Israel]].<ref name="Frumin Maeir Eniukhina Dagan 2024 p." />