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| Photo Credit: Dr. Gerald Klingaman |
| The typical chaste tree has a pointed inflorescence and marijuana-like leaves. |
There sure are a lot of trees that put on a showstopping bounty of blooms in spring, but there aren’t that many that can do it in summer. But chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) can – and it’s one of the best.
Although you don’t find it too often, chaste tree’s a widely adapted small tree or large shrub that reaches about 10-18 feet tall. It usually grows wider than tall, reaching out with spreading branches. A native to western Asia and southern Europe, it’s typically multi-trunked with distinctively palmate compound leaves. (In fact, the foliage looks a lot like marijuana leaves, and that’s why the plant’s sometimes called hemp tree.) If you crush the leaves, you’ll notice a very distinguishing aromatic smell. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Dr. Gerald Klingaman | | Chaste trees start out looking like a shrub, but they’ll grow 10-18 feet tall if you let them. |
While the tree’s a beauty to look at almost anytime of the year, it’s in the summer that it really shines. Blue to violet flower spikes appear in early to midsummer on the ends of new shoots. These spikes are branched, with the entire flower cluster reaching up to 1 foot long and wide! And the show continues on and off throughout summer. Once the flowers fade, the bloom spikes are covered with peppercorn-sized, round fruit.
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