Volume 11 > Part 4 > Year 2014 > Page 565 > Lythraceae > Lagerstroemia

7. Lagerstroemia indica L.wfo-0000366809

Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1076. 1759; Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 734. 1762; Gagnep., Fl. Indo-Chine [P.H.Lecomte et al.] 2: 940. 1921; Craib, Fl. Siam. 1: 724. 1931; Furtado & Srisuko, Gard. Bull. Singapore 24: 190, f. 1. 1969; H.N.Qin & S.A.Graham, Fl. China 13: 278. 2007; H.N.Qin, S.A.Graham & M.G.Gilbert, Fl. China Ill. 13: f. 295: 1–2. 2008. Plate CXVIII: 1.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrubs or small trees to 3 m tall; bark smooth, flaky (tabaek). Leaves (sub)sessile; lamina minutely hairy on both surfaces when young, glabrescent, 3–6(–10) cm long; lateral veins 5–7 on each side; intercostal venation reticulate. Inflorescences terminal, glabrous, lax, 5–20 cm long. Flowers: bud glabrous, globose, 5–7 mm diam., pseudopedicel 2–10 mm long; calyx tube glabrous, 3–4 mm long, not ridged or ridges slightly developed; auricles absent; calyx lobes 6, glabrous within, 3–4 mm long; petals pink, lilac, or white, blade suborbicular, 8–10 mm long, margin undulate and crispate, claw ca10 mm long; stamens radially dimorphic (4 or 6 outer stamens longer than numerous inner ones); ovary glabrous, style ca 10 mm long. Capsules smooth (not shagreen), glabrous, 10–15 mm long, 4–6-valved; fruiting calyx tube not ridged, lobes thin, persistent or caducous; fruiting pseudopedicel ca 8 mm long.

Thailand : A small ornamental tree or shrub, cultivated in temple compounds, gardens and parks in towns and villages, but seldom collected.

Distribution : Himalayan regions, China, Indochina, Japan, Indonesia (Ambon – type, where apparently early introduced), widely cultivated all over the world.

Vernacular : Kham ho (คำฮ่อ)(Northern); yi kheng (ยี่เข่ง)(Central).

CommonName : Chinense crape myrtle, Crape myrtle, Indian lilac

Uses: Commonly planted as an ornamental shrub or treelet.

Notes: Lagerstroemia indica sometimes flowers precociously, e.g. as found on a plant of 20 cm high.

The longer filaments are pale purplish, the shorter ones whitish; all anthers are yellow.

A shrubby product of horticulture of a stout habit, possibly a hybrid with Lagerstroemia speciosa, has recently been seen as an ornamental.