Sunday, February 7, 2010

Lagerstroemia speciosa - Crepe Myrtle, Queen's Myrtle or Pride of India

This beautiful lady is an outstanding sight at the end of a long, hot, humid summer. 


Not to be confused with the Lagerstroemia indica which is also commonly called Crepe Myrtle, this deciduous flowering tropical tree can reach around 12 metres in height.  She is the grand old lady or the Queen, if you will, of the Crepe Myrtles!  She is grander in size and her blooms are larger.

I'm lucky enough to have two of these growing in my garden and both are now about 6 metres tall so they are going to be a wonderful sight in a few years when in full bloom.  The Lagerstroemia speciosa gets trusses of mauve blooms that appear in late summer. The five petals are ruffled, with a crepe-like texture of course like all Crepe Myrtles.


In winter the smooth rounded mid-green leaves turn a russet red before falling.  It's the closest we come to autumn colours here in the north-east of Australia.


But it is the flowers that hold all the charm of this terrific summer bloomer.
 
 

22 comments:

  1. Hi, please support me in the Dare to Fail contest. Come and leave a comment at Tell me how to make Hydrangea blooms. Thanks a million.

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  2. Very nice pics of the Queen's Myrtle :-D I have not seen before the leaves in brown/orange. Glad you post the pic here.

    This plant is indeed a beautiful one. The flowers are gorgeous especially when the tree is in full bloom. We have less of this type here. We have lots of the Crepe Myrtle along the roads here.

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  3. What beautiful blooms! Love those petals. And 12 meters! It's a majestic tree!

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  4. Very interesting to see this one Bernie...a first for me .I love the larger type flowers and it is amazing the leaves take on those autumn colours.It must be a true tropical as I have not seen it even in Brisbane.
    cheers Ian

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  5. Stephanie ... the leaves of this tree when they turn red are a delight as we don't get autumn colours here. I've just noticed that I forgot to mention that they actually turn red in the wintertime ... not in autumn!

    We also have lots of that other crepe myrtle - Lagerstroemia indica - it's a very popular shrub and has been for a long time.

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  6. Tatyana ... I'm patiently waiting for my two trees to reach the 12 metres but it will be a while yet. When they do, it will indeed be a magnificent sight.

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  7. Hi Ian ... yes having lived down in Brisvegas briefly and now visiting my children and grandchildren who all live down there ... I must say I've never really noticed this tree growing there. It's certainly more common up here ... not as common as the Indica but still often seen in gardens or on the footpaths.

    The leaves turning red in winter is a real treat ... as I said it's the closest we come to having autumn colours (even though it happens during our winter).

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  8. What a pretty flower Bernie! I am familiar with the other crepe myrtle that you mentioned, but not this stunner. Ah, to live in a tropical garden!

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  9. Hello GG ... I'm beginning to realize that this tree is not as common as I thought. As for living in a tropical garden ... that would be fantastic if only we could miss the tropical summer!

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  10. Beautiful tree, Bernie. While her blossoms look familiar to me individually, what we call Crepe Myrtle has a bunch of these blossoms, done small, in a panicle. The effect is striking in the heat of summer, and I even enjoy the sight of their particular bark in winter. Thanks for sharing this beauty from your garden. :)

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  11. Bernie, it's always great to learn about a new plant. This is a cousin of the one I usually plant for my clients. And I'm entranced with your Flickr photos, which I'm planning to check out in greater detail. Love reading about Australian gardens, especially since I have an e-mail friend in Sydney who writes me periodically about her garden. Thanks for stopping by my blog, and I look forward to visting here again!

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  12. Bernie, loved reading about the cousin of a plant I put in clients' gardens (L. x indica) here in the US. I'm drooling over your Flickr slideshow of the Parklands garden in Brisbane. Must get to Australia sometime and visit my e-mail friend in Leichholdt!

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  13. I love those trees, they do awesomely here in the Southeastern US. :) We can't grow lilacs, this is the next best thing.

    Just in case you pop over to my blog and find me mentioning a 'crape' myrtle, please don't think I'm an idiot lol. That's how it is spelled on the plant tags in my area, so that's how I spell it. Even though 'crepe' seems more logical. ;)

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  14. Lagerstroemia speciosa is truly a magnificent sight when in full bloom. I have planted a few in my garden. One is now 21 years old and aahh...
    I think it is the only tree in my garden which bears red leaves in late autumn.

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  15. Lagerstroemia is native to our country pakistan and Lagerstroemia indica is a common street shrub in lahore. This species speciosa is not common here. It is longest blooming perennial in warm climate. THanks for sharing

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  16. Titania ... they are a lovely tree aren't they? Mine are nowhere near as old as yours ... I bet that 21 year old looks wonderful when it's blooming. My Lagerstroemias are the only plant that has red leaves as well ... it's a great sight when you usually don't get to see autumn colours.

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  17. Kyna ... yes I have seen the Lagerstroemia called 'Crape' and I often wondered how on earth that came about ... doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. You're so right too ... about this tree being the closest thing to a lilac.

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  18. And such a lovely colour as well

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  19. This is truly a beautiful tree. When you described the height I thought of a crepe myrtle which grew behind our house when I was a child. It was huge, taller than our two story house and very wide. It was a fantastic climbing tree, It had watermelon pink blooms, so I don't think it was the same as yours, but surely a cousin. I think the lavender blossoms of your crepe myrtle are gorgeous.

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  20. Your Crepe Myrtles are so beautiful. I love the delicate looking flowers. We grow many of the same types of plants. Australian natives are extremely popular here in Arizona

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  21. I love this tree and I was wondering if you knew if the red leaves came in Cairns as well? I'm moving back there eventually and would love it if my bonsai will change colour there.

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    Replies
    1. Beano5, yes the leaves should change colour in Cairns as well. They usually start changing around the end of Autumn or early Winter ... May to June.

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