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{{Inc|
Lagerstroemia (Magnus v. Lagerstroem, 1696- 1759, a Swede and friend of Linnaeus).
Lythraceae. Showy-flowered shrubs and trees, one of which (the crape myrtle) is much planted in
the southern states.Leaves opposite or the uppermost alternate, mostly ovate, entire: fls. in axillary and terminal panicles, with bracted peduncles and pedicels, pink, purple or white; calyx with a funnel-shaped tube and 6-9 lobes; petals mostly 6, crinkled or fringed, with a long, slender claw (Fig. 2061); stamens many to very many, long, some of them upward-curved; ovary 3-6-celled, with a long bent style and capitate stigma: fr. a caps.; seeds winged at the top.—Species, according to Koehne (Engler's Pflanzenreich, hft. 17, 1903), 30 in S. and E. Asia, Austral., Philippines, New Guinea. The crape myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, is to the S. what the lilac and snowball are to the N.—an inhabitant of nearly every home yard. It is a strong-growing shrub, reaching a height of 10-35 ft., deciduous-lvd., producing an abundance of soft fringed and showy fls. in summer. The normal form has pink fls., but varieties with blush, white and purple fls. are not uncommon. It is hardy as far north as Baltimore, but north of that latitude it needs protection; even with protection it cannot be grown north of the Long Island region. I. speciosa is very little grown. Neither species seems to thirve in S. Calif. The many other promising species of Lagerstroemia appear not to have been intro. commercially in this country.
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