Beautiful crape myrtle flowers described by ancient poets

Morphological characteristics of crape myrtle flowers

Crape myrtle is a deciduous shrub or small tree. It is artificially cultivated at the Jiangsu Crape Myrtle Base in large quantities. The morphological characteristics of Lagerstroemia are small trees, sometimes shrub-like, 3 to 7 meters high; the bark falls off easily and the trunk is smooth. Young branches are slightly quadrangular and slightly winged.

The leaves of Lagerstroemia are alternate or opposite, nearly sessile; the leaves are elliptical, obovate or oblong, 3 to 7 cm long, 2.5 to 4 cm wide, smooth and hairless or with hair along the main veins. The panicle is terminal, 4 to 20 cm long; the flower diameter is 2.5 to 3 cm; the calyx is 6- lobed, the lobes are ovate and smooth on the outside; there are 6 petals, purple, red, pink or white, with irregular notches on the edges and long claws at the base; there are 36 to 42 stamens, and the outer 6 filaments are longer; the ovary has 6 chambers.

The crape myrtle capsule is ellipsoidal-spherical, 9 to 13 mm long, 8 to 11 mm wide, and has 6 valve lobes. The seeds have wings. The flowering period is from June to September , and the fruiting period is from July to September . The older the tree trunk gets, the smoother it becomes. When you touch it with your hand, the whole tree trembles slightly.

Beautiful crape myrtle flowers described by ancient poets

The Song Dynasty poet Yang Wanli praised it in his poem: "It is so beautiful that it seems crazy and drunk, and it is especially slanted under the pressure of dew and wind. Who says flowers cannot bloom for a hundred days? The crape myrtle blooms for half a year." Xue Hui of the Ming Dynasty also wrote: "The crape myrtle blooms the longest, and it is in full bloom for ten days. New flowers bloom on the branches from summer to autumn." People in the northerners call the crape myrtle tree "monkey thorn", because the trunk of the tree is too slippery and even monkeys can't climb up it. Its valuable feature is that it has no bark.

Scarcity makes things valuable. Among the thousands of trees in the world, how many have no bark? The trunk of a young crape myrtle grows new bark every year, which falls off on its own every year. After the bark falls off, the trunk appears fresh and smooth. The old crape myrtle tree has no more skin on its trunk, and its veins are exposed. Smooth and shiny.

When the crape myrtle tree grows up, the bark on its trunk falls off, leaving it smooth and skinless. If people touch it gently, the branches and leaves will immediately shake, the whole body will tremble, and even make a faint "crackling" sound. This is a whole-body reaction of its "tickling", which is really amazing.