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{{Inc|
Lagerstroemia indica (L. chinensis). Crape Myrtle. Figs. 2060, 2061. 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.
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