Pōhinahina (Vitex rotundifolia)
Hawaiian name: Pōhinahina
Botanical name: Vitex rotundifolia
Family: Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Status: Indigenous
Where found: Maui, Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i, Hawai‘i, O‘ahu, Ni‘ihau & Kaua‘i
Water/Light: Dry, with full sun exposure
Elevation: 0 to 50 feet (up to 2,500 feet in cultivation)
Height: Up to 9 feet, with an up to 8 foot spread

Notes: Pōhinahina has a pleasant, sage-like, aroma with beautiful blue-violet flowers, which are often used in lei making. In old Hawai‘i, the edible leaves were used to relieve illnesses such as headaches, stomach pains, insomnia and queasiness. Pōhinahina is a tough coastal plant that is rather easy to grow inland, and can provide excellent erosion control in any landscape. Pōhinahina is drought, wind, salt and heat tolerant.
*Photo courtesy of Forest & Kim Starr
From Work Done by Whit Germano to Catalog Native Hawaiian Plants
MNBG
- Koki‘o ‘ula‘ula (Hibiscus kokio ssp. saintjohnnianus)
- Koki‘o ke‘oke‘o (Hibiscus arnottianus subsp. immaculatus)
- Kou (Cordia subcordata)
- Kukui (Aleurites moluccana)
- Loulu (Pritchardia remota)
- Maʻo (Gossypium tomentosum)
- Naio (Myoporum sandwicense)
- Pōhinahina (Vitex rotundifolia)
- Pōkalakala (Polyscias racemosa)
- Wauke (Broussonetia papyrifera)
- Wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis)