Lagerstroemia speciosa

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Lagerstroemia speciosa
Jarul.jpg
Flowers on a tree in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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.

Lagerstroemia speciosa (giant crepe-myrtle, Queen's crepe-myrtle, banabá plant, or pride of India, or "Queen's Flower" or "Jarul" [2] [3] ) is a species of Lagerstroemia native to tropical southern Asia. It is a deciduous tree with bright pink to light purple flowers. [4]

Contents

The name "Queen's Flower" is derived from the specific epithet 'reginae' or 'flosreginae', which means "imperial or flower of the queen". The tree bears beautiful attractive flowers in profusion in purple, lilac or pinkish-violet colours, and lasts for many months. Its timber is next only to teak in its strength. [2] It is called Queen Crape myrtle as its flowers look like delicate crêpe paper.

Etymology

The Latin specific epithet speciosa means 'beautiful'. [5]

Names

The names in English and other languages are as under: [6]

Growth

Bark in Selangor, Malaysia. Lagerstroemia speciosa at Kepong Botanical Garden, Taman Ehsan (221030).jpg
Bark in Selangor, Malaysia.

It is a small to medium-sized to large tree growing to 15 metres (49 ft) tall, with an attractive symmetrical crown having a short bole or trunk with smooth, flaky light grey or cream-coloured bark. [2] The leaves are simple, deciduous, oval to elliptic with stout petiole, 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. It has simple leaves with, glabrous, large, elliptic or oblong lanceolate. [2]

The fruits are ellipsoid or sub-globose woody capsules. They are green at first, but later turn brown and finally black. The fruits hang on to the trees. It is easily raised through seeds. It grows best on rich deep alluvial loams and prefers warm, humid and moist soils and can withstand water logging. [2]

Flowering occurs 3–5 years after planting and the main flowering season is April–June with a second flush in July–August. The fruits ripen in November–January. [2] p. 198

Cultivation and uses

It is grown in South East Asia, China India, Bangladesh and the Philippines and even extends to Australia. It is native to India particularly in the western ghats of India covering Belgaum, north and south Kanara, Malabar and Travancore and also in Assam and West Bengal. [2] 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). [7] 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. [8] The seeds have narcotic properties. [9]

Chemistry

Chemical compounds that have been isolated from the extract include corosolic acid, lager-stroemin, flosin B, and reginin A. [10]

Medicinal uses

Giant Crape Myrtle's seeds are narcotic, bark and leaves are purgative, roots are astringent, stimulant and febrifuge (fever removing). Decoction of leaves is used in diabetes. In Manipur, its fruit is used locally applied for apathy of the mouth [6]

Recognition

Pride of India or Tāmhan in Marathi is recognised as the state flower of the state of Maharashtra in India. [11]

In Hindu mythology, it is said that worshipping Lord Brahma results in blossoming of these flowers of Giant Crape Myrtle and Banaba tree and as such it brings prosperity to the house. [12]

In Buddhism

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

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<i>Chaenomeles</i> Species of shrub

Chaenomeles is a genus of four species of deciduous spiny shrubs, usually 1–3 m tall, in the family Rosaceae. They are native to Southeast Asia. These plants are related to the quince and the Chinese quince, differing in the serrated leaves that lack fuzz, and in the flowers, borne in clusters, having deciduous sepals and styles that are connate at the base.

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Pride of India or Pride-of-India is a common name for several plants and may refer to:

<i>Cassia fistula</i> Species of plant

Cassia fistula, also known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, kani konna, or pudding-pipe tree, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. The species is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjacent regions of Southeast Asia. It is the official state flower of Kerala state and Delhi UT in India. It is also a popular ornamental plant and is also used in herbal medicine.

<i>Catalpa speciosa</i> North American species of flowering tree

Catalpa speciosa, commonly known as the northern catalpa, hardy catalpa, western catalpa, cigar tree or catawba, is a species of Catalpa native to the midwestern United States.

<i>Kigelia</i> Genus of trees

Kigelia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. The genus consists of only one species, Kigelia africana, which occurs throughout tropical Africa. The so-called sausage tree grows a poisonous fruit that is up to 60 cm long, weighs about 7 kg, and resembles a sausage in a casing.

<i>Lagerstroemia indica</i> Species of tree

Lagerstroemia indica, commonly known as a crape myrtle, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Lagerstroemia of the family Lythraceae. It originated in China. It is an often multi-stemmed, deciduous tree with a wide spreading, flat topped, rounded, or even spike shaped open habit. The tree is a popular nesting shrub for songbirds and wrens.

<i>Cheilocostus speciosus</i> Species of flowering plant

Cheilocostus speciosus, or crêpe ginger, is a species of flowering plant in the family Costaceae. Some botanists have now revived the synonym Hellenia speciosa for this species.

<i>Lagerstroemia subcostata</i> Species of tree

Lagerstroemia subcostata, the Taiwan crepe myrtle, is a deciduous tree native to Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, and southern China, and introduced to the Philippines.

<i>Phoenix sylvestris</i> Species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae

Phoenix sylvestris also known as silver date palm, Indian date, sugar date palm or wild date palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family native to southern Pakistan, most of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It has been introduced to southeastern China, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands. Growing in plains and scrubland up to 1300 m above sea level, the fruit from this palm species is used to make wine and jelly. The sap is tapped and drunk fresh or fermented into toddy. The fresh sap is boiled to make palm jaggery in West Bengal state of India and Bangladesh.

<i>Lagerstroemia floribunda</i> Species of flowering plant

Lagerstroemia floribunda, also known as Thai crape myrtle and kedah bungor, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lythraceae. It is native of the tropical region of Southeast Asia.

<i>Lagerstroemia calyculata</i> Species of tree

Lagerstroemia calyculata known as the "Guava Crape Myrtle" ; the name is derived from its very characteristic mottled flaky bark. It is a species of flowering plant in the family Lythraceae and found in Southeast Asia and Oceania.

<i>Sterculia foetida</i> Species of tree

Sterculia foetida is a soft wooded tree that can grow up to 35 metres tall. Common names for the plant are the bastard poon tree, Java olive tree, hazel sterculia, wild almond tree, and skunk tree.

<i>Calophyllum polyanthum</i> Species of plant of the family Calophyllaceae

Calophyllum polyanthum is a species of flowering plant belonging to the genus Calophyllum of the family Calophyllaceae, commonly known as the poonspar tree, sirpoon tree, punnapine, pinnapai, punnappine, kattupunna and malampunna. This tree is native to the Western Ghats in India, where it grows in abundance there. It is also found in Andaman & Nicobar Island, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

<i>Lagerstroemia micrantha</i> Species of flowering plant

Lagerstroemia micrantha is a species of crepe myrtle in the family Lythraceae. It is a shrub or small tree native to southern Vietnam. Lagerstroemia micrantha lives in wet, tropical areas. The flowers of Lagerstroemia micrantha bloom in the late summer to early fall. Lagerstroemia micrantha prefers loose soil.

<i>Lagerstroemia <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> egolfii</i> Nothospecies of plant

Lagerstroemia × egolfii, the hybrid crape myrtle, is an artificial hybrid species of flowering plant in the family Lythraceae. Its parents are Lagerstroemia indica and L. subcostata var. fauriei.

References

  1. ↑ Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers. — The Plant List
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Swaminathan, M.S.; Kochar, S.L. (2019). Major Flowering Trees of Tropical Gardens. Cambridge University Press. p. 197. ISBN   978-1-108-48195-3.
  3. ↑ "Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers. pride of India." PLANTS Profile, United States Department of Agriculture / Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  4. ↑ "Lagerstroemia speciosa (Giant Crape Myrtle, Queen's Crape Myrtle) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox". plants.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  5. ↑ "Speciosa meaning in English" . Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Khatri, Vikas (2020). Herbal Cure – Medicinal Plants that heal naturally. V&S Publishers. p. 43. ISBN   978-93-5057-184-2.
  7. ↑ 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.[ dead link ]
  8. ↑ Tanaka, Yoshitaka; Van Ke, Nguyen (2007). Edible Wild Plants of Vietnam: The Bountiful Garden. Thailand: Orchid Press. p. 90. ISBN   978-974-524-089-6.
  9. ↑ Hargreaves, Dorothy; Hargreaves, Bob (1970). Tropical Trees of the Pacific. Kailua, Hawaii: Hargreaves. p.  16.
  10. ↑ Klein, G.; Kim, J.; Himmeldirk, K.; Cao, Y.; Chen, X. (2007). "Antidiabetes and Anti-obesity Activity of Lagerstroemia speciosa". Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 4 (4): 401–407. doi:10.1093/ecam/nem013. PMC   2176148 . PMID   18227906.
  11. ↑ "Maharashtra State Symbols". www.onlinesaraswati.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  12. ↑ Samantaray, Anamika (15 December 2020). "Health Benefits Of Queen Flower Plant!". StylEnrich.com.

Further reading

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