Vitex hybrida Moldenke

Sengun, S., Ingrouille, M., Paton, A. & de Kok, R. P. J., 2024, Taxonomic revision of the Vitex trifolia complex (Lamiaceae), Blumea 69 (2), pp. 93-121 : 106-109

5. Vitex hybrida Moldenke — Fig. 9, 10; Map 5

Vitex hybrida Moldenke (1941) 29. — Type: Anonymous s.n. (holo MICH [1108448]*), India ( Pakistan), Sindh, Bhola .

Vitex negundodes Kuntze f. albiflora Kuntze (1891) 510,nom. inval. — Type: Kuntze 7367 (holo NY (n.v.); iso K [ K000222901 ]*), [South India] Dekkan .

Vitex negundo L. var. purpurascens Sivar.& Moldenke (1974) 404. — Type: Sivarajan 1849 (holo LL [ LL00375281 ]*),( India, Kerala,) Calicut University campus. Syn. nov .

Shrub, 1–6 m high. Leaves 3–5-foliolate; petiole 1–6.7 cm long. Leaflets: blades lanceolate, apex acuminate, base cuneate, margin entire, upper surface dark green, lower surface light green to grey or purple; secondary veins 13 –16 per side, slightly prominent, visible on both surfaces; terminal leaflets 4.7–13.3 by 1–2.9 cm; terminal petiolules 0.5–2 cm long; lateral leaflets 3.2–11.6 by 0.6–2.5 cm; lateral petiolules 0–2.1 cm long; basal leaflets 0.9–8.1 by 0.5–2.1 cm; basal petiolules 0–0.5 cm long. Inflorescence axillary or terminal, consisting of lateral cymes in dense clusters, lower flowers caducous; axis 8–27.4 cm long, often pitted due to aborted flowers, sometimes mauve tinged or purple; bracteoles ovate, up to 2 mm long, patent, caducous, drying the same colour as inflorescence. Calyx glands absent to few; tube 1.1–2.4 mm long; lobes 0.3–1 by 0.5–1 mm, apex acute to acuminate; flowering calyx 3–3.5 mm diam; fruiting calyx 1.4–2.4 mm diam, erect, covering most of the fruit. Corolla dull or pinkish purple to violet or white; glands few or absent; tube 3–6.1 mm long; anterior lip orbicular, 1.5–4 by 1.6–3.7 mm, apex round, semi-circular area of hairs at the corolla mouth; lateral lobes 2–2.4 by 1.8–2 mm, apex round, patent; posterior lobes 1.2–1.7 by 1.7–1.9 mm, apex round, reflected to erect. Stamens: filaments 3–4.5 mm long, slightly to strongly didynamous, inserted at half to lower 1/3 of the corolla tube; anther c. 0.8 mm long, pale brown to violet. Ovary c. 1 mm diam, glabrous, glands sometimes present; style 5.1–8.6 mm long; stigma lobes 0.3–0.6 mm long. Fruit ellipsoid, when dried 3–4 by 3–3.8 mm, apex truncate, glabrous, black when mature.

Distribution — Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh. It is also known to be grown for horticultural purposes in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

Habitat & Ecology — Growing in secondary (dry) forest, mixed thickets and along roadsides, streams and in wastelands, often cultivated. Soil: Laterite, from sea-level up to 1200 m altitude. Flowering: June to February; fruiting: July to December.

Uses — Used medicinally for many ailments throughout the Indian subcontinent.

Vernacular names — Mărwăn (Punjabi); Nalla vavili (Telugu); Nika (Sinhala); Nirgudi (Hindi); Nishinda, Samalu (Bengali); Nochi (Tamil); Pushto (Urdu); Senduar (Nagpur).

Conservation status — Least concern (LC) as it is common throughout its range and there are no known threats ( Sengun 2017).

Notes — 1. This species has never been recognised as a distinct species before. Even Moldenke (1941), who published the oldest name at species level for this taxon, thought that he was dealing with a hybrid between V. negundo and V. pseudonegundo . According to the nomenclature rules ( Turland et al. 2018) even though it is misleading and never been used, the name V. hybrida has to be adopted for this species.

2. It is the common species from the V. trifolia complex in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka but known and studied as V. negundo . Vitex hybrida can easily be distinguished from the latter taxa by its purely entire leaflets, long, pitted cyme axes due to the scarring caused by aborted flowers, short (up to 2 mm), ovate bracteoles, often caducous, drying the same colour as the rest of the inflorescence and acute to acuminate calyx lobe apices as opposed to V. negundo that has dentate leaflets (all or some), short, smooth cyme axes with flowers regularly disposed, long (3–7 mm) linear bracteoles, persistent, drying black and acuminate to often aristate calyx lobe apices.

3. Some specimens are known to have purple undersides of the leaves and twigs as a result of purple hairs. However, this is not visible in herbarium specimens.

4. The name described by Kuntze (1891) V. negundodes , does not seem to be a typographical error for negundoides as he uses it consistently throughout his publication. The species V. negundodes has never been validly published and therefore the form albiflora is also invalid. From the description and local- ity, it is clear that V. negundodes f. albiflora sensu Kuntze must be V. hybrida .

5. Vitex hybrida can be confused with V. bicolor . However, it can be distinguished by its dense cymes on a pitted axis (due to aborted flowers) as opposed to V. bicolor having lax cymes on a smooth axis.

Figures

Map 5 Natural distribution of Vitex hybrida Moldenke.