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Lythraceae
Lagerstroemia indica
Location: On the Northeast corner of Garfield Ln. NE
Historical Background: Though native to the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, northern Australia and parts of Oceania, this tree is known to most of us as a common ornamental in the Southern United States and California. The wood makes strong timber used to construct bridges, furniture and railroad ties. The beautiful bark of this species is thin and can be easily damaged, but it can make an attractive street tree if the lower limbs are removed. It often grows with multiple trunks, but it can be trained to grow with a single trunk. Nurseries sometimes plant crape myrtle around their borders to attract insects away from other plants.
Non-Native
Native Range: Asia, Australia, Oceania
Identifying Features: This ornamental is well known for its beauty, with gorgeous spreading flowers from red to blue to purple in color. It is small, growing to only about 20’ (6m) in height. It has a wide open spreading crown, with slightly angled crooked trunks. Leaves are deciduous here, but in warmer climates they can be evergreen. They are dull green above and paler with a hairy midvein beneath. The bark is mottled grey and brown, and can be smooth or flaking off in patches.
Identifying Features In Depth:
Form: A shrubby tree, with curved and crooked branches that often split near the base and grow angled or twisted to a spreading or rounded open crown. It reaches a height of about 20’ (6m) and a diameter of 4” (10cm).
Leaves: Leaves grow opposite generally, but can be alternate on the upper reaches, they are a dull green, paler beneath, often with a hair midvein. They generally appear in two row, and are elliptical, 1-2” (2.5-5cm). They have smooth margins and very little stalk. In warmer climates they can be evergreen but here they are deciduous.
Bark: Generally mottled grey to tan brown, and quite smooth, although it will also flake off in patches. Twigs are light green turning light brown with age and slightly angled.
Reproductive Bodies: Flowers are vibrant and odorless, composed of 6 crapelike rounded and fringed petals which spread 1 ¼-1 ½” (4-6cm) wide on stalks. They are pink, to white, to red, to blue, to purple, and grow in profusion on showy upright clusters 2 ½-6” tall erect on the tree in mid to late summer. These give rise to small rounded brown capsules, which split into 6 parts to release many small winged seeds.
Below is the description found for this species on the original Brockman Memorial Tree Tour:
Historic Tree Tour Information: In the Medicinal Herb Garden east of Garfield Lane lane is one of the smaller trees on this tour: Washington's largest Crape Myrtle, just over 30 feet (9.1 meters) tall. The Lagerstroemia genus contains other species that range from less than one foot (0.3 meters) to 100 feet (30 meters) in height. The trunk is multicolored in smooth, almost animal-like ripples covered with peeling bark. The crown of leaves is light and shiny. In the fall the foliage shifts to showy oranges, reds, and yellows. From about mid-August to mid-October, varying yearly, the tree has spectacular bright pink flowers that look as if they are made of crepe paper. Though native to the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, northern Australia and parts of Oceania, this tree is known to most of us as a common ornamental in the Southern United States and California. It grows fine in Seattle, too, but blooms well only when placed in hot sites.
The wood makes strong timber used to construct bridges, furniture and railroad ties. The beautiful bark of this species is thin and can be easily damaged, but it can make an attractive street tree if the lower limbs are removed. It often grows with multiple trunks, but it can be trained to grow with a single trunk. Nurseries sometimes plant crape myrtle around their borders to attract insects away from other plants.
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