Vitex mossambicensis Gürke

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Photo: Ton Rulkens
Pemba Town, Cabo Delgado.

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Synonyms:	Vitex mossambicensis Gürke var. oligantha (Baker) W. Piep. Vitex oligantha Baker
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Shrub or small tree; bark greyish-cream, fissured; young branchlets with scattered, orange-brown hairs. Leaves opposite, 3-5-foliolate with leaflets obovate, 4-7 cm long, median leaflet largest, hairless above, more or less densely pubescent and sparsely gland-dotted beneath, sometimes only on the midrib and in axils of veins; veins more or less raised on both surfaces; margin entire or toothed in the apical half; petiole 3-9 cm long. Inflorescences in axillary, laxly few-flowered heads, 6-15 cm long, fragrant. Corolla 12-13 mm long, pubescent, not gland-dotted; tube white, straight; lobes spreading, mauve, middle lower lobe largest, 6-10 mm wide, blue. Fruit an obovoid drupe c. 1 cm long, purple-black when ripe, more or less half enclosed by the cup-shaped, pubescent calyx.
Notes:	This species is generally similar to Vitex petersiana but can be distinguished by the presence of 5-foliolate leaves, longer petiolules and more lax inflorescences.
Derivation of specific name:	mossambicensis:of Mozambique.
Habitat:	In coastal scrub and thickets.
Altitude range:	10 - 500 m
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Tanzania and northern Mozambique.
Mozambique distribution:	N
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:	Near Endemic
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Tuesday 27 September 2016
Literature:	Burrows, J.E., Burrows, S.M., Lötter, M.C. & Schmidt, E. (2018). Trees and Shrubs Mozambique Publishing Print Matters (Pty), Cape Town. Page 856. (Includes a picture). Darbyshire, I., Timberlake, J., Osborne, J., Rokni, S., Matimele, H., Langa. C., Datizua, C., de Sousa, C., Alves, T., Massingue, A., Hadj-Hammou, J., Dhanda, S., Shah, T., Wursten, B. (2019). The endemic plants of Mozambique: diversity and conservation status Phytotaxa 136 Page 88. Fernandes, R. (2005). Lamiaceae (subfamilies: Viticoideae and Ajugoideae) Flora Zambesiaca 8(7) Page 80.

Other sources of information about Vitex mossambicensis:

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Vitex mossambicensis
African Plant Database: Vitex mossambicensis
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Vitex mossambicensis
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Vitex mossambicensis
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Vitex mossambicensis
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Vitex mossambicensis
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Vitex mossambicensis
JSTOR Plant Science: Vitex mossambicensis
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Vitex mossambicensis
Plants of the World Online: Vitex mossambicensis
Tropicos: Vitex mossambicensis
Wikipedia: Vitex mossambicensis