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 
longer than the calyx-lobes. Capsule depressed-globose, 5 to 7 mm in 
diameter. (Fl. Filip. pl. 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. LAGERSTROEMIA 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 em 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 Myrile. 
A shrub or small tree, 4 m high or less, the branches slender, 4-angled, 
narrewly winged. Leaves entire, elliptic-ovate to oblong-ovate, or obovate, 
sessile, very shortly acuminate or obtuse, 4 to 8 cm long. Flowers about 
4 em 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. (FI. Filip. pl. 207.) 
Occasionally cultivated for ornamental purposes, but not spontaneous, 
fil. 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 when 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 
lilae-purple, oblong-obovate or obovate, shortly clawed, 3 to 3.5 cm long. 
Capsule obovoid or ellipsoid, 2 to 3.5 cm long. (FI. Filip. pl. 314, L. 
reginae.) 
In thickets, Malabon, San Juan del Monte, etc., occasional, sometimes 
also cultivated for its very ornamental flowers, fil. May-Aug.; common 
and widely distributed in the Philippines. India, through Malaya to 
Australia. 
