Editing Vitex ferruginea

{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; width: 320px; margin-left: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 1em;"
! colspan="2" style="background: #e8e8e8;" | Plum fingerleaf (''Vitex ferruginea'')
|-
! Scientific name
| ''Vitex ferruginea''
|-
! Common name
| Plum fingerleaf
|-
! Genus
| [[Vitex]]
|-
! Family
| [[Lamiaceae]]
|-
! Order
| [[Lamiales]]
|-
! Habit
| Scandent shrub or small tree
|-
! Native range
| Tropical and southern Africa
|-
! Fruit
| Purplish-black drupe
|}

''Vitex ferruginea'' is an accepted African species of [[Lamiaceae]], with plum fingerleaf recorded as a common name. Its native range extends across tropical and southern Africa; GBIF independently returns an exact accepted species match.<sup id="cite_ref-1">[[#cite_note-1|[1]]]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-2">[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

== Description ==

The plant is variable in form. It is described as a many-stemmed shrub about 1.5–4.5 m tall, often scandent, or as a small tree reaching about 6 m and sometimes 15 m; lianelike growth and deciduous behavior are also recorded. Leaves have 3–7 leaflets, and the flowers are cream and mauve.<sup id="cite_ref-3">[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>

The fruit is a spherical to ellipsoid drupe that becomes purplish-black at maturity. One botanical treatment gives about 3 × 2.5 cm, while a separate treatment gives 14–40 mm in diameter, so fruit size should be treated as a reported range rather than a single fixed value.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>

== Cultivation ==

=== Soil and water ===

Recorded habitats include riverine vegetation, semi-evergreen forest, deciduous woodland, Kalahari Sand thickets, and coastal forest on sandy soils and dunes from sea level to about 610 m.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup> As a habitat-based cultivation inference, begin establishment in a draining soil that can retain some organic moisture, and adjust irrigation to the site rather than treating either riverine occurrence or coastal-sand occurrence as a universal soil requirement. Keep the root zone from remaining stagnant during wet periods.

=== Sun and humidity ===

The species occurs across forest, woodland, riverine and exposed sandy settings.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup> As a habitat-based inference, give a young plant bright light with protection from abrupt exposure and drying winds, then increase exposure as it acclimates. The range of recorded settings does not justify a fixed shade or humidity threshold.

=== Seasonal changes ===

Deciduous behavior is recorded alongside occurrence in semi-evergreen and deciduous vegetation.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup> As a seasonal-climate inference, reduce irrigation when a plant is clearly shedding leaves in a dry period, while maintaining drainage through wet periods. Leaf retention may vary with climate because the species is also recorded from semi-evergreen habitats.

== Propagation ==

Seed is the documented propagation route for this species.<sup id="cite_ref-4">[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup> Germination schedule and treatment should be treated as variable rather than fixed.

== Flowering, fruiting, and harvest ==

Cream and mauve flowers are followed by spherical to ellipsoid drupes that mature purplish-black. Reported fruit dimensions range from about 14 mm to 40 mm in diameter, with another treatment giving approximately 3 × 2.5 cm.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup> A purplish-black color is therefore a useful provisional maturity cue for observation, but it should not be treated as a validated harvest index across all plants.

== Fruit and uses ==

A specialist edible-plant account describes the fruit as eaten raw or cooked and the flesh as sweet. This is a scoped wild-food report, not a universal statement about palatability or food safety.<sup>[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup>

An analytical study of ''V. ferruginea'' examined leaves used in medicinal contexts and reported leaf chemical constituents; leaf findings do not establish fruit safety or a medicinal effect, so the fruit-use account should not be extended into either claim.<sup id="cite_ref-5">[[#cite_note-5|[5]]]</sup>

== References ==

* <span id="cite_note-1"></span>[[#cite_ref-1|↑]] '''[1]''' [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:865712-1 Vitex ferruginea | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science].

* <span id="cite_note-2"></span>[[#cite_ref-2|↑]] '''[2]''' [https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match?name=Vitex%20ferruginea GBIF species match: Vitex ferruginea].

* <span id="cite_note-3"></span>[[#cite_ref-3|↑]] '''[3]''' [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:865712-1/general-information Vitex ferruginea | Plants of the World Online | General information].

* <span id="cite_note-4"></span>[[#cite_ref-4|↑]] '''[4]''' [https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Vitex+ferruginea Vitex ferruginea - Useful Tropical Plants].

* <span id="cite_note-5"></span>[[#cite_ref-5|↑]] '''[5]''' [https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2011.1183.1189 Chemical Composition and Phytochemical Screening of the Leaves of Hymenocardia ulmoides and Vitex ferruginea].

[[Category:Vitex]]
[[Category:Lamiaceae]]