Lagerstroemia indica

Plant Characteristics

Habit		tree
Height:	⇕	6 m"m" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 6.
Width:	⇔	6 m"m" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 6.
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Origin:	✈	China, Korea and Japan
Bloom:	❀	early summer, mid summer, late summer, early fall, mid fall, late fall

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun
Features:	✓	deciduous, flowers
USDA Zones:		7 to 9
Sunset Zones:		7-10, 12-14, 18-21, 25-31, warmer 32
Flower features:	❀	red, purple, pink, white

Scientific Names

Lythraceae >

Lagerstroemia >

indica >

Lagerstroemia indica (Crape myrtle, Crepe myrtle) is an often multistemmed, Deciduous flowering tree up to 6m high with a wide spreading, flat topped, open habit when mature^wp.

Flowers are white, pink, mauve, purple or carmine with crimped petals, in Panicles up to 9cm^wp.

The Bark is a prominent feature being smooth, pinkinsh-gray and mottled, shedding each year^wp. Leaves are small and dark green changing to yellow and orange in autumn^wp.

Read about Lagerstroemia indica in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Lagerstroemia indica (L. chinensis). Crape Myrtle. Glabrous, smooth- and brown- barked shrub, with rather small (2 in. long) elliptic or oblong sessile mostly acute lvs.: panicle open, sometimes minutely pubescent; fls. usually bright pink, but there are blush, purplish and white forms; calyx not ribbed, glabrous or nearly so. Widely cult. in India, but probably native to China. —Grown everywhere in the S. Atlantic and Gulf States for its profuse summer bloom, and sometimes it has escaped. The crape myrtle is of the easiest cult. The old bushes bloom profusely, but the plant will produce fls. the first year from seed. The seeds start readily in spring if sown in boxes in autumn and are not allowed to dry out. It is also prop. readily by cuttings of ripe wood. The bloom may be increased by cutting back so that fresh growth is secured. The plant may be grown in a tub or pot in a cool greenhouse, and will bloom 2 or 3 times a year if it is cut back. It has no special soil requirements. In the N. the root may survive if it is well protected, and strong shoots will arise that give bloom the same year. Sometimes the plants are lifted in autumn, carried over winter in a cellar and planted out in spring. As the crape myrtle blooms almost continuously for a period of 2 or 3 months (beginning in June far S.), it well repays what care may be given it under glass or in regions where it is not fully hardy.CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

Grow under full sun^AH. Best in well-drained, moderately fertile soils^AH. Prefers frequent water when growing, little water at other times^AH. Hard pruning to reshape plant is okay^AH. Frost tolerant^wp.

Propagation

Seed should be sown in spring at a temperature of 50-55F (10-13C)^AH. Softwood cuttings can be rooted later in spring^AH. Root semi-ripe cuttings in summer with bottom heat^AH.

Pests and diseases

Dieback and Powdery mildew^AH. Also Scales, Aphids, Whiteflies and Mealybugs^AH.

Cultivars

Some of the varieties below are crosses with L. fauriei.

• 'Acoma' - White flowers. Blooms in 6-7 inch clusters. Spreading, arching form, reaching 10 ft high/wide. Fall color of reddish/purple leaves.^sn.
• 'Catwaba' - purple flowers, leaves turn orange-red in fall. 3m (10ft)^AH.
• 'Centennial' - Lavender flowers. Fall color. 3 ft shrub^sn.
• 'Centennial Spirit' - Dark red flowers. Fall color. To 20 ft.^sn.
• 'Cherokee' - Open branched. Flowers bright red.^AH.
• 'Chica Pink' & 'Chica Red' - Bright colored flowers. Fall foliage. 3-4 ft high.^sn.
• 'Comanche' - Bright red blooms. Fall red/yellow foliage. To 12 ft.^sn.
• 'Dallas Red' - Dark red flowers. Very hardy.^AH.
• 'Glendora White' - White flowers. Fall red foliage. To 25ft high, 20 wide.^sn.
• 'Hopi' - Pink flowers. Fall orange/red foliage. To 7 ft high, 3.5ft wide. ^sn.
• 'Lavender Dwarf' - Light purple flowers. Shrub with spreading habit to 2m (6ft)^AH.
• 'Miami' - Dark-pink flowers. 15ft (5m) x 8ft (2.5m)^AH.
• 'Muskogee' - Lavender flowers. Tree is vigorous.^AH.
• 'Natchez' - White flowers. Vigorous to 20ft (6m).^AH.
• 'Near East' - Pale pink flowers. To 15ft (5m)^AH.
• 'Peppermint Lace' - Flowers dark pink with white picotee edge. Red fall foliage. 6-20 ft tall.^sn.
• Petite series - Series of cultivars with a range of flower color on 5 ft shrubs with yellow fall foliage. Series includes: 'Petite Embers', 'Petite Orchid', 'Petite Pinkie', 'Petite Plum', 'Petite Red Imp', 'Petite Snow'.^sn.
• 'Prairie Lace' & 'Queen's lace' - Flowers dark pink with white picotee edge. 4-6 ft tall. Queen's Lace hardier. Both have red fall foliage.^sn.
• 'Seminole' - Pink flowers. Blooms mid-summer to early fall. Compact tree, 7-8ft (2.2-2.5m).^AH.
• 'Sioux' - 2 inch large pink flowers. To 12ft (4m)^AH.
• 'Tonto' - Flowers bright red. To 8ft by 6ft.^sn.
• 'Tuscarora' - Dark pink flowers. Tree that grows fast.^AH.
• 'Tuskegee' - Dark pink flowers. Blooms on large panicles. Spreading branches. To 15ft (5m)^AH.
• 'White Dwarf' - White flowers. Shrub, forms a mound to 3ft (1m)^AH.
• 'Whichita' - Lavender flowers. Blooms summer-late autumn. Vase-shaped, sometimes tree-form^AH.
• 'Victor' - Flowers a dark red. Leaves have a reddish hue. Red foliage in fall. To 3 ft.^sn.
• 'Yuma' - Lavender flowers. Fall foliage a yellow-brown-red. To 10 ft tall and wide.^sn.
• 'Zuni' - Deep lavender flowers. Foliage orange-red in fall. To 9 ft high by 8ft.^sn.

Gallery

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  The "Dynamite" cultivar the Crepe Myrtle

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  photo 2

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  photo 3

References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
• American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432

External links

• w:Lagerstroemia indica. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Lagerstroemia indica QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)