Discover

(Redirected from Crape myrtle)

'''Lagerstroemia''' ('crepe myrtle' or 'crape myrtle') is a genus of about 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees or large shrubs native to eastern Asia and Australia in the ''Lythraceae'' family.
Grown mainly for their flowers, ''Lagerstroemia'' have sinewy, fluted stems and branches with bark that sheds each year, giving it a mottled appearance. The leaves are opposite, simple, with entire margins, and vary from 5-20 cm (2-8 in). The leaves provide autumn colour.
Flowers are borne in summer in panicles of crinkled flowers with a crepe-like texture. Colours vary in shades of pink, mauve and white. The fruit is a capsule, green at first, then ripening to black. It opens along six or seven lines, producing teeth much like those of the calyx, and releases numerous small winged seeds.
The timber of some species has been used to manufacture bridges, furniture and railway sleepers.
''Lagerstroemia'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including ''Endoclita malabaricus''.
;Selected species

★ ''Lagerstroemia archeriana''     ★ ''Lagerstroemia balansae'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia caudata'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia cristata'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia excelsa'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia floribunda'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia fordii'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia glabra'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia guilinensis'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia indica'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia intermedia''

★ ''Lagerstroemia limii'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia micrantha'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia siamica'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia speciosa'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia stenopetala'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia subcostata'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia subsessilifolia'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia suprareticulata'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia tomentosa'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia venusta'' ★ ''Lagerstroemia villosa''

The 'Common Crape-myrtle' ''Lagerstroemia indica'', from China and Korea, was introduced to the United States by French botanist Andre Michaux ''ca.'' 1790 to Charleston, South Carolina, where it is today a very common ornamental shrub raised and cultivated in South Central United States, and is growing in popularity.
The 'Giant Crape-myrtle' ''Lagerstroemia speciosa'', from tropical India, is a tree which is established only in the warmest areas of the US, such as Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and surrounding states.
Both species are becoming more prevalent in the home owners landscape designs as well as commercial industries for businesses and municipalities along roadways, highways and byways. They both have become so common it is sometimes almost impossible to tell them apart without laboratory testing.
The genus is named after the Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström, who supplied Carolus Linnaeus with plants he collected.

Contents

References

References

★

★ Flora of China: ''Lagerstroemia'' species list

★ Flora, The Gardeners' Bible, ABC Publishing, Ultimo, NSW, Australia, 2006