491

Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers.

Synonym	:	Lagerstroemia augusta Wall.
Family	:	Lythraceae
Local name	:	English - Pride of India Malayalam - Manimaruthu
Flowering and fruiting period	:	March-November
Distribution	:	Indo-Malesia
Distribution in Kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Semi-evergreen and evergreen forests, mostly along banks of streams; also planted as avenue  tree
Uses	:	The leaves are used as herbal tea to lower blood sugar level and reducing body weight. it is also recommended for kidney, bladder problems and hypertension.
Key Botanical Characters:  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, glabrous. Flowers bisexual, mauve or pink, in terminal panicles; inflorescence branches puberulous. Calyx tube hemispherical, puberulous, ribbed without; lobes 6, triangular, acute. Petals 6, obovate, clawed, margins crispate. Stamens many. Ovary half inferior, sessile, glabrous, 6-celled, ovules many; style curved; stigma capitate. Fruit a capsule, ovoid, brown, woody, dehiscent; seeds winged, pale brown.