SPECIES: Vitex (vy'tex, ancient Latin name) agnus-castus (ag'nus-cast'us, ancient classical name for chaste lamb).

FORM: Open and irregular small tree with spreading crown or large shrub.

SIZE: 10-15 feet tall, 8-10 feet wide.

EXPOSURE: Sun or part shade.

LEAVES: Deciduous, meaning it loses its leaves over winter. Leaflets, 1-4 inches long, grayish-green, covered with short gray hairs on underside; nice sagelike aroma when bruised.

FLOWERS: Herbal fragrance, lilac-blue in showy spikes June-September. Remove spent (old) flowers to flush late-season blooms.

FRUIT: Blue-black.

CULTURE: Tolerant of most soils but does well in medium drainage with medium fertility. Needs medium to low moisture. Thrives in heat, drought and coastal conditions. Hardy to Zone 7.

USES: Handsome when massed as shrubs or clustered as small specimen trees.

PRUNING: Cut back severely late winter every few years to keep plant compact and shapely as large shrub. For small ornamental shade tree, prune young plant to single- or multi-trunk form, removing lower limbs and keeping higher branches.

PROBLEMS: None serious.

PROPAGATION: Root cuttings of young shoots in half sand and half soil, shade from sun and keep in cool, humid place until rooted.