Lagerstroemia speciosa (giant crepe-myrtle, Queen’s crepe-myrtle…) is a species of Lagerstroemia native to tropical southern Asia. It is a deciduous tree with bright pink to light purple flowers.
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. It is called Queen Crape myrtle as its flowers look like delicate crape paper. It is a small, medium to large-sized tree up to 15 metres in height, with an attractive symmetrical crown having a short trunk with smooth, flaky light grey or cream-coloured bark. In Vietnam, the plant’s young leaves are consumed as vegetables; its old leaves and mature fruits are used in traditional medicine for reducing glucose in blood.
