crape myrtle

American  

Or crepe myrtle

noun

1. a tall Chinese shrub, Lagerstroemia indica, of the loosestrife family, having clusters of crinkled red, pink, purple, or white flowers, grown as an ornamental in the southern and western U.S.

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crape myrtle British  

noun

1. an oriental lythraceous shrub, Lagerstroemia indica, cultivated in warm climates for its pink, red, or white flowers

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Etymology

Origin of crape myrtle

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

And don’t replace them with something like crape myrtle, which is pretty but doesn’t offer much shade for the space it takes up.

From Los Angeles Times

That’s the sound of shade tree advocates unhappy that I’m mentioning crape myrtles in this list.

From Los Angeles Times

Tree varieties include Eureka lemon, pink guava, Golden Delicious apple, coast live oak, olive, crape myrtle, California sycamore, desert willow and torrey pines.

From Los Angeles Times

They also claimed the crape myrtles would provide similar amounts of shade and noise reduction.

From Los Angeles Times

The crape myrtle bark scale has crept into the D.C. region in recent years.

From Washington Post