What is the scientific name for beach vitex?

What is the scientific name for beach vitex?

Vitex rotundifolia
Vitex rotundifolia/Scientific names

Vitex rotundifolia L. f. ( ITIS ) Beach vitex, chasteberry, roundleaf chastetree, Monk’s pepper.

Where is the beach vitex originally from?

Summary of Invasiveness Vitex rotundifolia, commonly known as beach vitex, is a low, woody, perennial shrub with branches that can run for many meters. It is native to Asia, including China and Japan, and also to Oceania, including Australia and Papua New Guinea.

What family is vitex in?

Mints
Chaste tree/Family
chaste tree, (Vitex agnus-castus), also called lilac chaste tree, chaste berry, monk’s pepper tree, or wild lavender, aromatic shrub of the mint family (Lamiaceae; formerly placed in Verbenaceae), native to Eurasia. Its pliable twigs are used in basketry.

Why is Vitex beach a problem?

Beach Vitex grows so aggressively that during the 60 day incubation time many turtle nests are overgrown, entrapping the hatchlings. Some have been found dead, entangled within the rhizome mats. The Beach Vitex “invasion” has become so bad that South Carolina developed a Vitex Task Force to deal with the problem.

Is Vitex an invasive species?

Beach vitex is a salt-tolerant, perennial, invasive shrub that has naturalized in coastal areas of the southeastern United States. Since its introduction in the 1980s, this Pacific Rim native has invaded many fragile beach-dune ecosystems along the Mid-Atlantic, Southern Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico.

How is beach vitex controlled?

Chemical Control Initially, the aboveground beach vitex stems are wounded with a machete at several locations along each stem, and a 5.25% solution of imazapyr is painted into the wounds. Imazapyr was selected because it is one of the few herbicides that provided long-term control of beach vitex (Cousins et al.

How did beach vitex get to the United States?

Saturating the South Scientists introduced beach vitex to the southeastern United States from the beaches of Korea in the mid-1980s, believing the plant could help stabilize dunes. As word traveled about its high salt and drought tolerances, so did the plant.

Is vitex a tree or bush?

Vitex (Vitex agnus-castus) is a deciduous shrub that bears clusters of purple flowers in the summer. The leaves of the vitex are reminiscent of the marijuana plant (Cannabis sativa), with five leaflets in a palm-shaped arrangement.

Are vitex and chaste tree the same thing?

Vitex (Vitex agnus-castus) is a large shrub native to the Mediterranean and Asia. There are a few different species of vitex, but Vitex agnus-castus is most commonly used as a herbal supplement. This plant is sometimes also called chastetree, chasteberry, or monk’s pepper.

Is vitex an invasive species?

How does beach vitex spread?

Beach vitex is a prolific seed producer but can also spread from stem (runner) fragments (Figure 2). Seeds float and can be carried in longshore currents and waves to other beaches. Seeds and cuttings that have been chipped up and spread as mulch have also started new populations where dispersed.

Are vitex trees native?

Vitex agnus-castus, also called vitex, chaste tree (or chastetree), chasteberry, Abraham’s balm, lilac chastetree, or monk’s pepper, is a 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 sub-tropical flowering plants.