MANILA, Philippines - Beach Vitex or Vitex rotundifolia L.f. is a woody vine that grows on beaches and sand dunes. Its native range is from Korea, Philippines and Hawaii to Australia. Although basically a vine, the plant may be trained into a very attractive hedge in shoreline areas. The plant grows well with sea water or brackish water for irrigation.
The silvery leaves and blue flowers add to the interesting characters of the plant. Beach Vitex is fast-growing, drought and salt tolerant. Beach Vitex is utilized basically as an ornamental plant.
Beach Vitex can reach 1 to 2 foot high and typically 12 feet in diameter, but runners can grow to infinite lengths with reports of up to 60 feet long. Stems root along their length forming a mat on the sand making it ideal for sand dune management. Leaf arrangement is opposite.
Flowers of Vitex rotundifolia are blue-purple, fragrant and 1 inch across in short inflorescences out of the leaf axils. Fruit are round, 1/4 inch wide, and purplish-black when ripe. Leaves are simple, rounded, and silver gray-green in color with dense, grayish-white hairs on the lower surface. Leaves are 2” long by 1.5” wide.
Beach Vitex (Vitex rotundifolia L.f.) has been used in landscaping in Hawaii for at least 3 decades now. New Albino forms (white flowers instead of blue) were found in Bicol and are being propagated by local grower in Batangas for the landscape industry.