Genetic diversity within populations has been found to be much lower than the average for most woody plants.[35] Additionally, the divergence between populations was found to be higher. There were large genetic differences between populations, indicating there is limited gene flow between populations. This is understandable due to the limited ecological niche beach vitex inhabits. Since the populations are largely clonal, this may enhance genetic drift. Significant variations have been observed with regard to genotype and chemotype of various beach vitex samples collected from across China. Genotypic and chemotypic variations were closely associated.[36] Large genetic variation between populations was observed with lower variation within populations, and plants within 20 m of each other were closely related. It was believed that differentiation of separated populations might be the cause of variations between populations.