Pride of India (Lagerstroemia speciosa) also known as Queen's Crepe Myrtle or Bungor Raya, is a small to medium sized tree from the family Lythraceae. It is native to the Indian Subcontinent, Southern China, Indochina, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia.
The genus Lagerstroemia was first described by Carl Linnaeus. The name Lagerstroemia recognizes Magnus von Lagerstroem, a Swedish naturalist who provided specimens from the East for Linnaeus.
Lagerstroemia speciosa, typically reaches heights of up to 30 meters. When young, it has a dense, broadly conical crown that becomes rounded, as the tree matures.
The trunk of Lagerstroemia is often fluted and has creamy-brown to light grey bark that peels in papery flakes. The inner bark is pale brown and fibrous.
The leaves are simple, opposite, broadly ovate to oblong, and somewhat leathery, with prominent veins on the underside. Young leaves emerge glossy red, turn pinkish, and eventually mature into green. As a drought-deciduous tree, it sheds leaves in the dry season. The withered leaves turn orange-red before being shed.
The flowers of Lagerstroemia are conspicuous, with six petals that are papery-wrinkled and crepe-like. The flowers start out pinkish-purple, fade to white, and are shed 2-3 days later. The central disc has numerous light yellow stamens and the flowers are pollinated by large bees. The flowers are held in elongated, panicle inflorescences, around 30-40 cm long, which extend outward from the crown. The flowers on the panicle open progressively from the bottom to the top. Lagerstroemia is fairly free-blooming in Singapore, with multiple blooming episodes occurring throughout the year.
The fruits of Lagerstroemia are woody dehiscent capsules, They are seated on a persistent woody calyx and mature from green to brown. When ripe, the capsules split radially into six parts. The tree disperses its numerous small seeds (165,000-235,000 dry seeds/kg), which are triangular, flattened, and apically winged, through wind dispersal.
For cultivation, it thrives in moderately fertile, well-drained soil.
Lagerstroemia speciosa provides a reddish-brown wood called pyinma. Regarded as similar to teak in characteristics, moderately hard and durable, with termite-resistant heartwood. It is used in medium-heavy construction, as well as paneling, parquet flooring, paddles, agricultural tools and handicrafts. It also makes good firewood.
The trees are used as physical support for climbing-rattan in Kalimantan, Indonesia.
MEDICINAL USE
The bark is used to treat diarrhoea and abdominal pain in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. Leaves and dried fruits are traditionally made into herbal tea (known as Banaba Tea in Philippines, after the tree's Tagalog name) to treat high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney ailments (eg. dissolving kidney stones). Plant extracts available as health supplements, purportedly effective for blood sugar control and weight loss. Modern medical research shows that leaf extracts have hypoglycemic (glucose-lowering) effects in genetically-diabetic rats, thus suggesting the plant's potential use as anti-diabetic medication.
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Plants of Singapore
