Manimaruthu, Poomaruthu

Scientific Name :

Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers.

Synonym(s) :

Lagerstroemia hirsuta (Lam.) Willd.

Local/Common name(s) :

Manimaruthu, Poomaruthu

Family :

Lythraceae

Habit :

Tree

Flowering/Fruiting Time :

Throughout

Habitat :

Semi-evergreen and evergreen forests, mostly along banks of streams, also planted as avenue tree

Endemic :

No

Status (IUCN) :

Distribution :

India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea; Kerala: throughout

Nativity :

Indigenous

Uses :

Medicine, Fibre, Poison, timber, Resin, Tannn, Ornamental

Description (Morphology) :

Deciduous trees, to 25 m high, bark 4-6 mm thick, yellowish-brown, smooth; fibrous. Leaves simple, opposite or subopposite, oblong, ovate-lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, apex acute, base obtuse, round or acute, margin entire, glabrous, coriaceous; stipules intrapetiolar, deciduous; petiole 6-12 mm long, stout, glabrous; lateral nerves parallel, prominent beneath, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers bisexual, 5-7 cm across, mauve or pink, in terminal panicles; inflorescence branches puberulous; pedicel 1 cm long. Calyx tube hemispherical, puberulous, ribbed without; lobes 6, triangular, acute. Petals 6, obovate, clawed, margins crispate. Stamens many, inserted near the base of the calyx tube; filaments exserted. Ovary half inferior, sessile, glabrous, 6-celled, ovules many; style 2 cm long, curved; stigma capitate. Fruit a capsule, 18-30 mm long, ovoid, brown, woody, dehiscent; seeds winged, pale brown.