Lagerstroemia indica seed
LATIN NAME: Lagerstroemia indica
COMMON NAME: Crape Myrtle
Crape myrtle is the long-flowering, smooth-barked tree of the warm gardens, and it has been a familiar of the summer streets of the south for a very long time. The smooth, mottled trunk and the fine branches carry glossy leaves and great plumes of the crinkled flowers in the pink, the purple, the red and the white through the whole of the warm season. The show goes on for months, and the autumn brings a fine change of the leaf colour. It is a tough, adaptable tree that takes well to the light pruning and the shaping.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
Horticulturists have worked on the crape myrtle for a long time, and the many named varieties in the nurseries come from a long programme of the breeding and the selection. The long flowering, the disease resistance and the way the tree performs in the town streets have all been looked into, and the results appear in the arboriculture and the ornamental horticulture journals. The plant also has a quiet presence in the work on the warm-climate street trees and the summer-flowering ornamentals. The smooth, peeling bark and the long bloom keep it a regular subject of the garden writing and the plant studies.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The crape myrtle is one of the most widely planted of the warm-climate flowering trees, and it lines the streets and fills the gardens of the warm world. It is valued for its very long summer flowering, its neat, smooth trunk and its tolerance of the heat and the dry spells, and it is a mainstay of the town planting and the home garden alike. The flowers pull in the bees and the butterflies, and the seed heads give a fine winter look. It has been written up in the horticultural papers for its toughness and its long bloom, and a mature tree in full flower is a fine, generous sight.
The crape myrtle is one of the longest-flowering of all the warm-climate trees, and a well-placed specimen can carry its crinkled plumes for a hundred days or more through the warm season. The smooth, peeling bark gives the trunk a fine, mottled look in every season, and the tree is planted widely along the streets and in the parks of the warm world. The many named varieties cover the range of the heights, from the small shrubs to the tall trees, and the colours of the flowers run from the pale pink to the deep purple and the near-white. It is a tough, adaptable tree that asks for the sun and the well-drained soil.
The crape myrtle seeds are as fine as dust, and they want the light to sprout. Scatter them thinly over the surface of pots of moist, free-draining soil, press them in without covering them, keep the pots in a bright, warm, open spot and water them gently. Keep the pots in a bright, warm, open spot and water them gently so the surface stays damp. The seedlings are up before long and grow on into strong young trees over the first season. Give them a sunny, sheltered spot and room to grow, and they will be flowering in a few years.
Crape Myrtle is a deciduous, upright, spreading, multi-stemmed shrub. Features dark green foliage turning dull reddish-orange in fall, grayish-brown bark which exfoliates with age and terminal. Beautiful, inflorescence white, pink, red, or lavender flowers that bloom on 6 to 12 inch long panicles in mid-June and last up to 120 days. Flowers give way to round seed capsules which often persist well into winter.
Crape Myrtles are a valuable landscape plant that can be used as a shrub or small tree, ranging in size from 18 inches to over 25 feet. As an asset to almost any landscape, the Crape Myrtle is a very beautiful specimen shrub or tree, often used in groups under planted with a ground cover. The dark green foliage contrasts the gray to tan shades of the handsome bark. Crape Myrtle can be used as hedges, screens, or in masses. Planted in this manner, Crape Myrtle offers a grand display of color throughout the summer months.