Lagerstroemia speciosa

Lagerstroemia speciosa (giant crepe-myrtle, Queen's crepe-myrtle, banabá plant, or pride of India[2]) is a species of Lagerstroemia native to tropical southern Asia.

Lagerstroemia speciosa
Flowers on a tree in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Lythraceae
Genus: Lagerstroemia
Species:
L. speciosa
Binomial name
Lagerstroemia speciosa
Synonyms[1]
  • Adambea glabra Lam.
  • Lagerstroemia augusta Wall. nom. inval.
  • Lagerstroemia flos-reginae Retz.
  • Lagerstroemia macrocarpa Wall. nom. inval.
  • Lagerstroemia major Retz.
  • Lagerstroemia munchausia Willd.
  • Lagerstroemia plicifolia Stokes
  • Lagerstroemia reginae Roxb.
  • Munchausia speciosa L.

Etymology

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.

Names
  • English : Pride of India, Queen Crepe Myrtle
  • Bengali: জারুল (Jarul)
  • Hindi: जरुल (Jarul)
  • Marathi: ताम्हण (Tamhan), जारुळ (Jarul), मोठा बोंडारा (Motha Bondara)
  • Assamese: এজাৰ (Ejār)
  • Tagalog: Banaba
  • Vietnamese: Bằng lăng nước
  • Malayalam: മണിമാരുത്തു, നിർമ്മുരുത്ത്, പൂമാരതി

Growth
Bark in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

It is a small to medium-sized tree growing to 20 metres (66 ft) tall, with smooth, flaky bark. The leaves are deciduous, oval to elliptic, 8–15 cm (3.1–5.9 in) long and 3–7 cm (1.2–2.8 in) broad, with an acute apex. The flowers are produced in erect panicles 20–40 cm (7.9–15.7 in) long, each flower with six white to purple petals 2–3.5 cm (0.79–1.38 in) long. The flowers in this plant blooms only once in a year at the peak of summer.

Cultivation and uses

It is grown in South East Asia, India , Bangladesh and the Philippines. It is also widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical areas. The leaves of the banabá and other parts are used widely in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan as a tea preparation. Banabá herb is one of the 69 herbal plants promoted by the Philippine Department of Health (DOH).[3] In Vietnam the plant's young leaves are consumed as vegetables, and its old leaves and mature fruit are used in traditional medicine for reducing glucose in blood.[4]

The seeds have narcotic properties.[5]

Chemistry

Chemical compounds that have been isolated from the extract include corosolic acid, lager-stroemin, flosin B, and reginin A.[6]

Recognition

Pride of India or Tāmhan in Marathi is recognised as the state flower of the state of Maharashtra in India.[7]

In Buddhism

In Theravada Buddhism, this plant is said to have been used as the tree for achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi by the eleventh Buddha ("Paduma – පදුම"), and the twelfth Buddha (Naarada – නාරද). The plant is known as මුරුත (Murutha) in Sinhala and Mahaasona – මහාසොණ in Sanskrit.

References
  1. Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers. — The Plant List
  2. "Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers. pride of India." PLANTS Profile, United States Department of Agriculture / Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  3. Eduardo B. Principe and Aurora S. Jose (2002). "Propagation Management Of Herbal and Medicinal Plants" (PDF). Research Information Series On Ecosystems. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  4. Tanaka, Yoshitaka; Van Ke, Nguyen (2007). Edible Wild Plants of Vietnam: The Bountiful Garden. Thailand: Orchid Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-9745240896.
  5. Hargreaves, Dorothy; Hargreaves, Bob (1970). Tropical Trees of the Pacific. Kailua, Hawaii: Hargreaves. p. 16.
  6. "Antidiabetes and Anti-obesity Activity of Lagerstroemia speciosa"
  7. "Maharashtra State Symbols". www.onlinesaraswati.com. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  • Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening 3: 10.
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