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| ## crape myrtle {#crape-myrtle .Title-Header}                         |
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| *Lagerstroemia indica* L.                                             |
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| Plant Symbol = LAIN                                                   |
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*Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center*

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.5479166666666666in"
height="1.698611111111111in"}

J.S. Peterson @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

# Uses

*Commercial use:* Crape myrtle is valued as a landscape plant for its
prolific summer flowers, heat and drought tolerance, and year-round
landscape interest.

Crape myrtle is used for buffer strips around parking lots, for median
strip plantings along highways, near decks, patios, as shade trees in
small parking lots and around homes.

# Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status (e.g. threatened or endangered
species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

# Description

######## General: Crape myrtle is a medium to large shrub or a small multi-stemmed tree that can grow upto 40 feet. Flowering begins as early as May in some cultivars and continues into the fall. Each 6- to 18-inch cluster of flowers (or panicle) develops on the tips of new growth and is composed of hundreds of 1-to 2-inch flowers. Color ranges include shades of purple, lavender, white, pink and red, including \"true\" red, a relatively recent development. Some cultivars have bicolor flowers (two colors on each petal), some cultivars have flower colors that fade with age or certain environmental conditions, and other cultivars have panicles composed of a mix of flower colors. Strips of bark peel off in early summer to reveal mottled new bark ranging in color from pale cream to dark cinnamon to rich brown to bright orange. The bark color gradually fades over winter until it peels again the next summer. 

Leaves on many of the *Lagerstroemia indica* cultivars are rounded,
opposite or some leaves alternate or whorled, simple, elliptical, entire
margin, 1 1/2 to 3 inches long, dark green above and paler below. Most
hybrid cultivars have lance-shaped leaves up to 5 inches long and 3
inches wide while other species have even larger leaves. Leaves are
often tinged red in the spring and turn dark green by summer. Several
cultivars are known for new growth that is bronze, red or burgundy and
some cultivars are claimed to have burgundy-colored foliage all summer.

When the leaves fall in winter, crape myrtle becomes a living sculpture.
The trunk and branches of tree-form plants have an attractively gnarled,
sinuous character with smooth bark.

*Distribution*: For current distribution, please consult the Plant
Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

*Habitat*: Crape myrtle is adapted to climatic conditions throughout the
south and southeast. Well-established plants are extremely drought
tolerant and have low fertility requirements, although they respond to
fertilizer and water with lush growth. Crape myrtle has low salt
tolerance, so it should not be irrigated with saline water or used near
the coast unless it is well-protected from saline conditions.

# Adaptation

The crape myrtle (*Lagerstroemia* species) is native to China and Korea
but has been so embraced by Southerners and has become a dominant
landscape plant throughout the South. Breeding programs have produced
superior forms with a wide range of plant sizes and habits, improved
flowering, new flower colors, ornamental bark, ornamental foliage, pest
resistance and increased vigor.

# Establishment

Softwood, semi-hardwood, hardwood, or root cuttings can propagate crape
myrtle. Softwood and semi-hardwood cuttings root easily when taken in
spring or summer. Hardwood cuttings from dormant plants also root
easily, although use of rooting hormone improves rooting percentages.
Root cuttings may be dug in early spring and planted in the greenhouse.
Plantings established with root cuttings are normally poor because of
root inconsistently.

Seed capsules ripening in the fall may be collected, dried, and stored
in sealed containers. No seed pre-treatment is necessary and seeds will
germinate within 3 weeks after sowing. Best growth results when seeds
are sown during the early days of spring. Seed should be sowed in
well-drained slightly acidic to neutral moist soil and covered to a
depth of one quarter on an inch.

When using container or root ball planting, choose sunny sites with
well-drained soil, making sure there is enough room for shrub to reach
its mature spread. Dig a hole twice as wide as container or root ball.
Set plant at same depth or slightly higher than it was in the pot, or if
balled, even with top of root ball. Fill in hole around plant with soil,
mound soil to form a 2-inch-high ridge around perimeter of the hole to
act as a catch basin. If plant is balled in synthetic fabric, remove
fabric carefully before planting. Burlap may be left around root ball
and then peeled back once plant is set in hole. Water thoroughly,
filling the basin and allowing water to settle several times. Spread
2-inch layer of mulch around plant

# Pests and Potential Problems

Crape myrtles are trouble-free small trees with the most common problems
being powdery mildew, Cercospora leaf spot, aphids, Japanese beetles and
sooty mold. The fungus *Erysiphe lagerstroemia* causes powdery mildew.
Patches of white to grayish powdery growth occur on the surfaces of
leaves, flowers and new shoots. Heavily infected flowers may fail to
open. Infected parts of the plant are usually distorted and stunted. The
disease is most serious in shady, damp locations, especially where
plants are crowded and air circulation is poor. Development of the
fungus is caused by high humidity at night and dry, mild daytime
conditions, and often occurs during the spring and fall.

Very few insects are pests of crape myrtle however, *Tinocallis
kahawaluokalani*, the crape myrtle aphid is one of the most important
insect pest of the crape myrtle. This aphid is feeds on the leaves and
young twigs of crape myrtle. The crape myrtle aphids feeds only on crape
myrtle trees. Japanese beetle (*Popillia japonica*) is also a pest,
feeding on leaves and flowers. In addition to crape myrtle, it will feed
on nearly three hundred different plant species.

Crape myrtle aphids are pale yellowish green in color with black spots
on the abdomen. They vary in length from ^1^/16 to ^1^/8 inch long. They
survive the winter as eggs, and the eggs hatch in the spring. During the
growing season, females give birth to live young. Since it takes about
10 days to reach maturity, several generations are produced each growing
season. Aphids feed by inserting their mouthparts into tender new leaves
from which they suck plant sap. Plant sap has a high sugar content. When
they feed, the aphids excrete large amounts of a sugary liquid called
honeydew. With a large aphid population, the honeydew can completely
coat leaves. The honeydew serves as food for the sooty mold fungi, as
well as various insects, including ants, wasps and flies. As the aphid
feeds, it injects saliva into the leaf. The saliva causes yellow spots
to develop on the leaf. Several other predators feed on the crape myrtle
aphid. These include ladybird beetles (ladybugs) and their larvae
(immature forms), green lacewings and their larvae, hover fly maggots,
parasitic wasps and entomophagous (insect feeding) fungi.

Leaf and stem surfaces are covered with a black sooty substance, causing
them to appear black and dirty or sooty mold. It indicates that there is
an insect problem on the plant. These common molds are caused by fungi
that grow on the sugary substance, called honeydew, produced by various
insects that suck sap from the plant. Aphids, scales, mealy bugs and
whiteflies most commonly cause this problem.

Adult Japanese beetles are about ½ inch in length and coppery-brown in
color with metallic green heads. They emerge from the soil and feed from
May to August. They lay their eggs in the soil. Grubs hatch from the
eggs and feed on grass roots. As the weather cools, the grubs move more
deeply into the soil, and over winter. Both adult beetles and their
larvae (grubs) can seriously damage plants as a result of their feeding.
Adult Japanese beetles eat flowers and skeletonize leaves (eat leaf
tissue between the veins, resulting in a lacy skeleton remaining). The
grubs feed on the roots of plants, especially on the roots of grasses.

# Cultivars, Improved, and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

*Lagerstroemia* species are deciduous shrubs or trees with geographic
origins in China, Japan, and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Private individuals, nurseries and public institutions, have developed
many cultivars of crape myrtle. In 1962, the U.S. National Arboretum in
Washington D.C. began a crape myrtle breeding project with
*Lagerstroemia indica*. Major advances occurred when *L. subcostata* and
*L. fauriei* were introduced into the breeding program in 1966. The
resulting hybrids were highly ornamental and resistant to powdery
mildew. As a result of the late Dr. Donald Egolf\'s efforts, the U.S.
National Arboretum has released over 24 selected for cold hardiness, for
resistance to powdery mildew, and for varying heights, habits, flower
colors, fall foliage colors, and bark characteristics. All U.S. National
Arboretum cultivars have Native American names.

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

# References

Byers, David. 1997. *Crapemyrtle: A Grower\'s Thoughts*. Owl Bay
Publishers Inc., Auburn, AL.

Chester, E.W, B.E. Wofford, and R. Kral. 1997. *Atlas of Tennessee
vascular plants*. Vol. 2, Miscellaneous Publication No. 13, Center for
Field Biology, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee

Chester, E.W., B.E. Wofford, R. Kral, H.R. DeSelm, and A.M. Evans. 1993.
*Atlas of Tennessee vascular plants.* 2 vols. Miscellaneous Publication
No. 9/13, Center for Field Biology, Austin Peay State University,
Clarksville, Tennessee.

Dirr, Michael A. and Charles W. Heuser, Jr. 1987. *The Reference Manual
of Woody Plant Propagation*. Varsity Press, Inc., Athens, Georgia. 239
pp. Pp. 144-145.

Duncan, W.H., and J.T. Kartesz. 1981.*Vascular flora of Georgia.*
University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia.

Egolf, Donald R. and Anne 0. Andrick.1978. *The Lagerstroemia
Handbook/Checklist*. American Association of Botanical Gardens and
Arboreta, Inc.

Fernald, M.L. 195. *Gray\'s manual of botany,* 8th ed., American Book
Company, New York, New York

Hatch, S.L., K.N. Gandhi, and L.E. Brown. 1990, *Checklist of the
vascular plants of Texas*. MP-1655 Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station, College Station, Texas

Johnson, Randy and Ruth Dix. 1994. *Dwarf Cape myrtle classification*.
Proc. 1993 Southern Nurserymen\'s Assoc. Research Conf. 38: 374-378.

Jones, S.B., and N. Coile. 1988. *The distribution of the vascular flora
of Georgia Herbarium*, Department of Botany, Athens, Georgia.

Knox, Gary W. 1992. *Crape Myrtle In Florida*. Fact Sheet ENH-52,
Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. 6 pp. Revised April 1994.

> Knox, Gary W, Russell F. Mizell III, and Daniel 0. Chellemi. 1993.
> *Susceptibility of crape myrtle cultivars to carpe myrtle aphid and
> powdery mildew*. Proc. 1992 southern Nurserymen\'s Assoc. Research
> Conf. 37:340-342.

Mizell, Russell F., III and Gary Knox. 1993. *Susceptibility of crape
myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica L., to the crapemyrtle aphid, Tinocallis
kahawaluokalani (Kirkaldy) in north Florida*. *Journal of Entomological
Science* 28(1): 1-7.

Thomas, R.D., and C.M. Allen. 1993. *Atlas of the vascular flora of
Louisiana*, Vols. 1-3, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Natural Heritage Program, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Wieland, R.G. 2004. *County observation records of Mississippi
Vegetation Survey Project (*Samples taken 9-1989 to 11-2003, inclusive
of collection records and of field surveys by other authors) MMNS,
Conservation of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks, Jackson, Mississippi

Westcott, Cynthia. 1971. *Plant Disease Handbook*, third edition. Van
Nostrand Reinhold Company,New York, New York. 843 pp. Pp. 293-298 and
405-406.

Wieland, R.G. 2004. *County records of Mississippi collections*
(#5501-9869, 9/12/89 to 1/23/04) deposited at Mississippi Museum of
Natural Science Herbarium (MMNS) Mississippi Museum of Natural Science,
Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Jackson, Mississippi

Wunderlin, R.P., B.F. Hansen, and E.L. Bridges. 1996. *Atlas of Florida
vascular plants Online*:
<http://www.usf.edu/~isb/projects/atlas/mapindex.html>

Wunderlin, R.P., and B.F. Hansen. 2002. *Atlas of Florida vascular
plants Online: Http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/University of South
Florida,* Tampa, Florida.

# Prepared By: 

##### *Lincoln M. Moore*

USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

*Jeffrey D. Walker Wilson*

Earth team Volunteer, USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana

# Species Coordinator: 

*Lincoln M. Moore*

USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

##### Edited: 29jan03 jsp; 09jun03 ahv; 31may06 jsp; 060803 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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