Crepe-myrtle
Lagerstroemia indica
Commonly cultivated, persistent around old plantings, spreading to roadsides, old fields, suburban woodlands, and natural areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
—
Not native
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 6–30 feet
- Spread
- 6–30 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- June to September
- Fruiting season
- Summer to fall
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Recorded in 38 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
Habitats
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground; forests and woodlands.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
12CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Lagerstroemia
- Acharia stimuleaSaddleback Caterpillar Moth
- Anatrachyntis badiaFlorida Pink Scavanger Caterpillar
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Manduca rusticaRustic Sphinx
- Oedemasia concinnaRed-Humped Caterpillar, Red-Humped Appleworm
- Oiketicus abbotiiAbbot's Bagworm Moth
- Schizura ipomaeaeMorning-Glory Prominent, Checkered-Fringe Prominent
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera latifasciaOrange-Striped Armyworm, Velvet Armyworm Moth
Show all 12
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimGrowing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Lythraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–9b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Pink, purple, red or white
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Several stems
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Pink, purple, red or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Several stems” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 6a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “6–30 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “6–30 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Crepe myrtle
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications