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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Home / Terrestrial Invasives / Terrestrial Plants / Beach Vitex

Beach Vitex

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Beach vitex
Beach vitex infestation, plants stripped of runner and fruit by major winter storm - Photo by Randy Westbrooks; Invasive Plant Control, Inc.
Scientific Name: 

Vitex rotundifolia L. f. (ITIS)

Common Name: 

Beach vitex, chasteberry, roundleaf chastetree, Monk’s pepper

Native To: 

Asia (Olsen and Bell 2005)

Date of U.S. Introduction: 

1989-1990 (Olsen and Bell 2005)

Means of Introduction: 

Introduced for erosion control (Olsen and Bell 2005)

Impact: 

Crowds out native species and may destroy sea turtle nesting habitat (Cousins et al. 2010)

Distribution / Maps / Survey Status

Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System (EDDMapS) - Beach Vitex
University of Georgia. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.
Provides state, county, point and GIS data. Maps can be downloaded and shared.

Images

Google Images - Beach Vitex
Google.
Invasive.org - Beach Vitex
University of Georgia. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.
Plants of Hawaii - Vitex rotundifolia
Starr Environmental.

Videos

YouTube - Beach Vitex: Kudzu of the Coast?
Google. YouTube; North Carolina Sea Grant.

Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source. Or, to display all related content view all resources for Beach Vitex.

Partnership
Global Invasive Species Database - Vitex rotundifolia (shrub)
IUCN. Species Survival Commission. Invasive Species Specialist Group.
Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States - Beach vitex
University of Georgia. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.
Invasive Species Compendium - Vitex rotundifolia
CAB International.
Federal Government
PLANTS Database - Roundleaf Chastetree
USDA. NRCS. National Plant Data Center.
U.S. National Plant Germplasm System - Vitex rotundifolia

USDA. ARS. National Genetic Resources Program. GRIN-Global.

State and Local Government
Pest Alert: Beach Vitex (Dec 2020) (PDF | 1.16 MB)

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Division of Plant Industry.

See also: Plant Industry Pest Alerts for more pests

Beach Vitex

Hilton Head Island Municipal Government (South Carolina).

Academic
Beach Vitex (Vitex rotundifolia L.f.) (2019)

Mississippi State University. Extension.

Identifying & Managing Beach Vitex
Clemson University Cooperative Extension. Home and Garden Information Center.
Invasive Species Fact Sheet - Beach Vitex (PDF | 886 KB)

Mississippi State University. Geosystems Research Institute.

See also: Species Factsheets for more fact sheets

Plant Profile: Vitex rotundifolia

University of Florida. IFAS. Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants.

Citations