A flora of Manila - Rainforestation

LYTHRACEAE 341
apex acute and apiculate, base narrowed, 1.5 to 4 cm long. Panicles
7 to 30 cm long, the lower branches subtended by leaves. Flowers
fragrant. Calyx about 4 mm long. Petals usually straw-yellow, a little
long^er than the calyx-lobes. Capsule depressed-globose, 5 to 7 mm in
diameter. (Fl. Filip. pi. 108.)
Commonly cultivated for its fragrant flowers, occasionally spontaneous;
in and about towns generally in the Philippines, chiefly cultivated, and
certainly introduced after the Spanish occupation. A native of parts of
Africa and India, now cultivated or spontaneous in most tropical
countries.
2. LAG ERST ROE Ml A Linnaeus
Trees or shrubs with opposite, usually distichous, entire, oblong to
ovate leaves. Panicles axillary and terminal, ample. Flowers large,,
showy, regular. Calyx-tube funnel-shaped, smooth, grooved, angular, or
narrowly winged, lobes usually 6. Petals usually 6, large, clawed, margins
crisped or undulate. Stamens long, very numerous, inserted near the base
of the calyx-tube. Ovary sessile at the base of the calyx-tube, 3- to 6-
celled, ovules many. Capsule ovoid to ellipsoid, more or less adnate to
the persistent calyx-tube, 3- to 6-valved, 3- to 6-celled. Seeds many, winged
at the apex. (In honor of M. Lagerstroem, a correspondent of Linnaeus.)
Species about 30, chiefly Indian and Malayan, few in China and Aus-
tralia, 4 in the Philippines, of which 1 is introduced.
Leaves 4 to 8 cm long, subsessile; flowers about 4 cm in diameter; petals
beautifully crisped and lobed, with a long slender claw 1. L. indica
Leaves 12 to 25 cm long, distinctly petioled; flowers 7 to 8 cm or more
in diameter, the petals with a short claw 2. L. speciosa
*1. L. INDICA L. Melindres (Sp.-Fil.) ; Crepe Myrtle.
A shrub or small tree, 4 m high or less, the branches slender, 4-angled,
narrowly winged. Leaves entire, elliptic-ovate to oblong-ovate, or obovate,
sessile, very shortly acuminate or obtuse, 4 to 8 cm long. Flowers about
4 cm in diameter, in small, terminal panicles. Calyx green, 6-lobed. Petals
6, pink or purplish, with a long slender claw, the limb 1.5 to 2 cm wide,
orbicular or reniform in outline, lobed, strongly crisped. Capsule globose-
ovoid, 1 cm long or less. (Fl. Filip. pi. 207.)
Occasionally cultivated for ornamental purposes, but not spontaneous,
fl. June-Sept.; occasional in larger towns throughout the Archipelago. A
native of China, now widely distributed in tropical and warm countries,
cultivated and wild.
2. L. speciosa (L.) Pers. Banaba (Tag.).
A tree 4 to 20 m high, or sometimes flowering Avhen a mere shrub
2 m high or less. Leaves coriaceous, oblong to elliptic-ovate, obtuse
or shortly acuminate, 12 to 25 cm long. Panicles terminal, large, up
to 40 cm in length. Flowers 6-merous. Calyx pubescent, ribbed. Petals
lilac-purple, oblong-obovate or obovate, shortly clawed, 3 to 3.5 cm long.
Capsule obovoid or ellipsoid, 2 to 3.5 cm long. (Fl. Filip. pi. SlJf, L.
rcginae.)
In thickets, Malabon, San Juan del Monte, etc., occasional, sometimes
also cultivated for its very ornamental flowers, fl. May-Aug. ; common
and widely distributed in the Philippines. India, through Malaya to
Australia.