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

See Examples For:

crape myrtle

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 ● Aug. 10, 2025

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 ● Sep. 26, 2024

Entomologists and arborists in the Washington region have scrambled to find the best solution to countering the crape myrtle bark scale, but there are still more questions than answers.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2023

The walls keep to mostly a neutral palette, with the exception of a vibrant pink wallpaper in the library, a color inspired by crape myrtle tree blossoms, Bridges says.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2023

One day a few years earlier, brilliant pink blossoms bloomed on the crape myrtle that Connie had planted in our yard.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson