[V. ovata Thunb.; V trifolia L. subsp. litoralis Steenis; V t. var. ovata (Thunb.) Makino; V. t. var. sim- plicifolia Cham.; V. t. var. unifoliata Schauer]
(ind) Beach vitex, kolokolo kahakai, hinahina kolo, manawanawa, mawana- wana, pdhinahina, polinalina (0‘ahu)
Low, branched shrubs; stems procumbent, often rooting at the nodes, forming mats several m in diameter, side branches ascending to erect, usually 1-3 dm long. Leaves aromatic when crushed, with a sagelike odor, nearly always simple, rarely palmately compound with 2-3 leaflets, obovate to suborbicular, 2-6.5 cm long, 1-4.5 cm wide, upper surface pale green, densely puberulent, lower surface grayish white, densely tomentose, margins entire, apex rounded, rarely some of the upper ones short-acuminate, base attenuate, petioles 0-1 cm long. Flowers usually 3 in cymes aggregated in narrow paniculate inflorescences 3-7 cm long, white or grayish tomentose throughout, bracteoles linear, 1-2 mm long; calyx cup-shaped, 4-4.5 mm long, enlarging somewhat up to ca. 5 mm long in fruit, 5-nerved, 5-toothed, the teeth very short, ca. 0.6-0.7 mm long, very densely white tomentose; corolla bluish purple, narrowly funnelform, densely puberulent externally, the tube ca. 8 mm long, upper 2 lobes ca. 3.5 mm long, margins recurved, lateral lobe ca. 4-4.2 mm long, lower lobe ca. 7.3-7.8 mm long, with 2 white short-pilose markings at base; stamens exserted from corolla tube; filaments ca. 9-10 mm long, pilose toward base; style ca. 12 mm long, exserted from corolla tube. Fruit green, turning yellow and red-tinged, becoming bluish black at maturity, slightly depressed-globose, ca. 6 mm in diameter. [2n = 32, 34*.] A widespread strand plant from China, Taiwan, and Japan south to Malesia, India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Australia, Pacific islands, and Hawai‘i, cultivated in some areas as a sand binder; in Hawai‘i occurring on sandy beaches, rocky shores, and dunes, 0-15 m, on all of the main islands except Kaho‘olawe.—Plate 194.
This species, which has been used medici-nally in Hawai‘i, has been treated in a variety of ways. It has been called Vitex ovata, and more recently Moldenke (1958) treated it as V. trifolia var. simplicifolia. However, we agree with Corner (1939) that, although related, V rotundifolia differs from V. trifolia in habit and in having obovate to suborbicular leaves with rounded apices and attenuate bases. Vitex trifolia is an erect shrub or tree with trifoliolate leaves with the leaflets oblong-elliptic to oblanceolate or obovate, apex acute to short-acuminate, and base attenuate or, when upper leaves simple, broadly cuneate to rounded, and thus it should be considered distinct. Fos- berg (1962b) also shares this view and pointed out that the occasional occurrence of simple leaves in V trifolia and trifoliolate leaves in V rotundifolia does not represent intergradation but rather slightly variable tendencies in each species.