lilac chastetree Verbenaceae Vitex agnus-castus

Leaf:Opposite, palmately compound, 2 to 6 inches across, usually five leaflets per leaf (sometimes 7), leaflets mostly lanceolate wih entire margins, very short petiolules, dark and shiny green above and pale pubescent below, very aromatic when crushed.
Flower:Bright blue-lilac, very fragrant, in slender spiked panicles at the branch tips, to 8 inches (18 inches when subtending flower spikes are included), late summer, spectacular when in full flower.
Fruit:Round green and fleshy, drying and turning brown, 1/8 inch in diameter, persistent through winter, held cup-like.
Twig:Slender, opposite, gray-brown and pubescent, quadrangular, buds are wedge-shaped to rounded and gray-brown.
Bark:Initially smooth and gray-brown, becoming blocky on older stems.
Form:A large shrub to 15 feet (occasionally a small tree to 20 feet) and of equal spread.

leaf flower fruit twig bark form map

Notes: