Lagerstroemia indica

Lagerstroemia indica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Lythraceae
Genus:	Lagerstroemia
Species:	L. indica
Binomial name
Lagerstroemia indica (L.) Pers.

A close view of the crape myrtle flower

Lagerstroemia indica — Muséum de Toulouse

Lagerstroemia indica (crape myrtle, crepe myrtle, crepeflower^[1]) is a species in the genus Lagerstroemia in the family Lythraceae.

From China, Korea, Japan and Indian Subcontinent Lagerstroemia indica is an often multi-stemmed, deciduous tree with a wide spreading, flat topped, rounded, or even spike shaped open habit. Planted in full sun or under canopy, the tree is a popular nesting shrub for songbirds and wrens.

Crepe myrtle (দেশি ফুরুস), Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Autumn foliage

The bark is a prominent feature being smooth, pinkish-gray and mottled, shedding each year. Leaves also shed each winter, after spectacular color display, and bare branches re-leaf early in the spring; leaves are small, smooth-edged, circular or oval-shaped, and dark green changing to yellow and orange and red in autumn.

Flowers, on different trees, are white, pink, mauve, purple or carmine with crimped petals, in panicles up to 9 centimetres (3 ¹⁄₂ in).

Lagerstroemia indica is frost tolerant, prefers full sun and will grow to 6 metres (20 ft) with a spread of 6 metres (20 ft).

Many hybrid cultivars have been developed between L. indica and L. faueri

The "Dynamite" cultivar the crepe myrtle

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lagerstroemia indica.

• Flora, The Gardeners Bible, ABC Publishing, Ultimo, NSW, Australia, 2005