{{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 = <ref name="iucn status 15 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=de Kok, R. |date=2020 |title=''Vitex parviflora'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T33339A67741355 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T33339A67741355.en |access-date=15 November 2021}}</ref> |genus = Vitex |species = parviflora |authority = Juss. }}
'''''Vitex parviflora'''''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Molave|url=https://onetotree.org/molave/|access-date=2021-12-03|website=OneToTree|language=en}}</ref> is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae, also known as '''smallflower chastetree'''<ref>{{PLANTS|id=VIPA6|taxon=Vitex parviflora|access-date=6 August 2015}}</ref> or the '''molave tree'''. The name "molave" is from Spanish, derived from ''mulawin'',<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|molave|accessdate=2022-09-23}}</ref> the Tagalog word for the tree.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4q-pR1gQIcC |title=Bulletin |date=1907 |publisher=Bureau of Public Printing |language=en}}</ref><ref name="D"/> It is also known as ''tugas'' in Visayan languages.<ref name="cr">{{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}}</ref><ref name="D">{{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 |author-link=Elmer Drew Merrill |page=191 |publisher=Bureau of Public Printing, Department of The Interior |location= Manila |date=1903 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref> It can also be found in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Asia.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" /> In Cuba, it is also considered as a possibly invasive species due to naturalization.<ref name=":0" />
It is valued in the Philippines for its dense durable wood and was once used extensively in furniture, boats, utensils, and as construction material.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The wood is also known to resist decay and termites.<ref>{{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}}</ref> It became a protected species in the Philippines and it is illegal to cut its tree under certain conditions.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Before 2019, it was listed as critically endangered, threatened and vulnerable in the assessments recorded in the IUCN Red List.<ref>{{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 |archive-date=2022-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120220319/http://www.nationalredlist.org/files/2013/07/Threatened-plants-Philippines-paper-updated-07Feb2008-ALS-format-2.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref> As of 2017, the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources classified it as endangered due to overharvesting and habitat loss.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> Although in 2019, the species was reassessed and declared as least concern by IUCN.<ref name="iucn status 15 November 2021" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061210050111/http://mosaikparkett.se/M.htm Wood Species and their Botanical Names in Alphabetical Order] - (Molave is listed here.)
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parviflora Category:Trees of Malesia Category:Vulnerable plants Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Lamiaceae-stub}}