Vitex parviflora[2] is a species of plant in the family Verbenaceae, also known as smallflower chastetree[3] or the molave tree. The name "molave" is from Spanish, derived from mulawin,[4] the Tagalog word for the tree.[5][6] It is also known as tugas in Visayan languages.[7][6] It yields one of two woods from the same genus called molave wood, the other being Vitex cofassus.
| Vitex parviflora | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Genus: | Vitex |
| Species: | V. parviflora |
| Binomial name | |
| Vitex parviflora | |
It is a native species in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.[8] It can also be found in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Asia.[8] It was reported to be an invasive species in Guam and Hawaii after it became naturalized in O’ahu and escaped from cultivation in Guam.[8] In Cuba, it is also considered as a possibly invasive species due to naturalization.[8]
It is valued in the Philippines for its dense durable wood and was once used extensively in furniture, boats, utensils, and as construction material.[9] The wood is also known to resist decay and termites.[10] It became a protected species in the Philippines and it is illegal to cut its tree under certain conditions.[11] Before 2019, it was listed as critically endangered, threatened and vulnerable in the assessments recorded in the IUCN Red List.[12][13] As of 2017, the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources classified it as endangered due to overharvesting and habitat loss.[14][15] Although in 2019, the species was reassessed and declared as least concern by IUCN.[1]
References
External links
- Wood Species and their Botanical Names in Alphabetical Order - (Molave is listed here.)