THE LOVELY TREE CRAPEMYRTLES 
The tropics offer a dozen different tree-form crapemyrtles, related to the bush so 
Florida. 
beloved by gardeners in the South, and eight of these are now available in 
QUEEN’S CRAPEMYRTLETREE 
*QUEEN’S'CRAPEMYRTLETREE 
(Lagerstroemia speciosa Syn. L. flos-re- 
ginae). Most beautiful of summer-flower- 
ing trees for Florida and one of the most 
spectacular flowering trees to be found 
anywhere in the world, the Queen’s Crape- 
myrtletree is a “must” for every South 
Florida garden. Through June and July 
its crown is covered with great trusses 
of rich pinkish mauve blossoms 2 inches 
or more across and their weight is often 
enough to bend the long branches to the 
ground. Flowering continues for weeks 
and makes this a graceful, spectacular 
ornamental. It flowers only if planted in 
full sun. Occasionally a bright pink or 
magenta-flowered tree is seen but these 
are rare and most of the thousands of 
seedlings I have raised will have mauve 
blossoms. 
* HAIRY CRAPEMYRTLE (L. hirsu- 
ta). A small Indian tree with “exceed- 
ingly ornamental flowers which are very 
large and purplish pink.” It flowers uni- 
formly and profusely. Very rare in Florida, 
this may prove finest of them all. 
* FUZZY. GRAPEMYRTLETREE CE, 
tomentosa). “A large deciduous Indian 
tree, reaching 100 feet or more,” says 
Troup. “The panicles of handsome white 
flowers, 1-1% inches in diameter, appear 
in April-May.” In Ceylon flowering takes 
place twice a year. 
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LATE CRAPEMYRTLETREE 
*LATE CRAPEMYRTLETREE (L. 
turbinata). Best bloomer of all the tree 
crapemyrtles with flowers until Thanks- 
giving, this beautiful tree grows tall and 
slender with great bouquets of mixed 
pink, lavender and white flowers in tow- 
ering clusters above the foliage. This tree 
is evergreen in south Florida. 
*INDO-CHINA CRAPEMYRTLE- 
TREE (L. thorelli). Colthurst says: “Very 
popular for its beauty and long season 
of bloom, it is le dernier cri in tree plant- 
ing.” Lancaster says the flowers “will last 
from May to October and if the spikes are 
removed as the flowers fall a second flush 
will result. This is an ideal amateur’s 
tree.” Rather like the Queen’s, but with 
smaller leaves and flowers, this tree is 
probably hardiest of the tree relatives 
of the bush crapemyrtle so popular in 
southern gardens. 
“WHITE CRAPEMYRTLETREE (L. 
lanceolata). A large deciduous Indian 
tree with smooth whitish bark peeling in 
large papery strips. “Elegant and beauti- 
ful,” says Nairne. “The trees may be seen 
from a distance when quite covered with 
(snow-white) flowers.” 
