Vitex parviflora

{{short description|Species of tree}}

{{Speciesbox

|image =Starr-091104-9126-Vitex parviflora-flowers and leaves-Kahanu Gardens NTBG Kaeleku Hana-Maui (24895355111).jpg

|status = LC

|status_system = IUCN3.1

|status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=de Kok, R. |date=2020 |title=Vitex parviflora |volume=2020 |page=e.T33339A67741355 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T33339A67741355.en |access-date=15 November 2021}}

|genus = Vitex

|species = parviflora

|authority = Juss.

}}

Vitex parviflora{{Cite web|title=Molave|url=https://onetotree.org/molave/|access-date=2021-12-03|website=OneToTree|language=en}} is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae, also known as smallflower chastetree{{PLANTS|id=VIPA6|taxon=Vitex parviflora|access-date=6 August 2015}} or the molave tree. The name "molave" is from Spanish, derived from mulawin,{{Cite Merriam-Webster|molave|accessdate=2022-09-23}} the Tagalog word for the tree.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4q-pR1gQIcC |title=Bulletin |date=1907 |publisher=Bureau of Public Printing |language=en}} It is also known as tugas in Visayan languages.{{cite web|last1=Bareja|first1=Ben G.|title=Two Strains of Molave Tree Distinguished|url=http://www.cropsreview.com/molave-tree.html|website=Cropsreview.com|access-date=14 August 2017}}{{cite book |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/agj6434.0001.001/193 |via=University of Michigan Digital Collections |title=A dictionary of the plant names of the Philippine Islands |first1=Elmer Drew |last1=Merrill |authorlink=Elmer Drew Merrill |page=191 |publisher=Bureau of Public Printing, Department of The Interior |location= Manila |date=1903 }} It is known as sagat in ilokano. It yields one of two woods from the same genus called molave wood, the other being Vitex cofassus.

It is a native species in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.{{Cite web |title=Vitex parviflora (molave) |url=https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/56548#tosummaryOfInvasiveness |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=www.cabi.org |language=en}} It can also be found in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Asia. 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. In Cuba, it is also considered as a possibly invasive species due to naturalization.

It is valued in the Philippines for its dense durable wood and was once used extensively in furniture, boats, utensils, and as construction material.{{Cite journal |last1=Lomosbog |first1=Noel T. |last2=Gamil |first2=Noel S. |date=2015 |title=Characterization of Potential Molave (Vitex parviflora Juss.) Mother Trees in Lila, Bohol, Philippines |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ijerd/6/2/6_11/_article/-char/en |journal=International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=11–16 |doi=10.32115/ijerd.6.2_11}} The wood is also known to resist decay and termites.{{Cite web |last=Alvina |first=Corazon S. |date=2020-04-12 |title=The Hardwoods of our Vanishing Forests |url=https://www.heraldsuites.com/the-hardwoods-of-our-vanishing-forests/ |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=Herald Suites |language=en-US}} It became a protected species in the Philippines and it is illegal to cut its tree under certain conditions.{{Cite web |title=PHILIPPINE ENVIRONMENT LAWS - CHAN ROBLES VIRTUAL LAW LIBRARY - FULL TEXT OF ACT NO. 3572 |url=https://www.chanrobles.com/actno3572.htm#.Yy0PDkxByCh |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=www.chanrobles.com}} Before 2019, it was listed as critically endangered, threatened and vulnerable in the assessments recorded in the IUCN Red List.{{Cite web |title=Threatened plants of the Philippines: a preliminary assessment |url=http://www.nationalredlist.org/files/2013/07/Threatened-plants-Philippines-paper-updated-07Feb2008-ALS-format-2.pdf |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=National Red List |page=28}}{{Cite journal |last1=Berame |first1=Julie |last2=Bulay |first2=Minie L. |last3=Mercado |first3=Rissa M. |date=2021-06-05 |title=Sustaining angiosperms' diversity of Bood Promontory and Eco-Park, Butuan City, Philippines: Step towards a community based-protection management program |url=https://smujo.id/biodiv/article/view/8355 |journal=Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity |language=en |volume=22 |issue=6 |doi=10.13057/biodiv/d220662 |s2cid=236273177 |issn=2085-4722|doi-access=free }} As of 2017, the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources classified it as endangered due to overharvesting and habitat loss.{{cite web |title=Molave |url=https://rainforestrestorationinitiative.wordpress.com/2016/01/22/molave/ |access-date=14 August 2017 |website=The Return of the Philippine Native Trees |date=22 January 2016 |publisher=Rain Forest Restoration Initiative}}{{cite web |last1=Bareja |first1=Ben G. |title=The Molave Trees are Amazing, What With Their Plenty of Conventional Uses and New Ones That Evolved |url=http://www.cropsreview.com/molave-trees.html |access-date=14 August 2017 |website=Cropsreview.com}} Although in 2019, the species was reassessed and declared as least concern by IUCN.