This small deciduous tree has a greyish mottled trunk with pendulous branches that form a round crown. It has glossy dark green to grey elliptical leaves and the pale pink saucer-shaped flowers appear in a cluster along the branchlets in summer.
Hardiness zones 11 to 12
Lagerstroemia archerianais naturally found in northern Australia from the Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland to northern Western Australia, growing in monsoon to dry forest and is deciduous during the dry season / winter. It also grows as a sub-canopy tree in the western and southern highlands of New Guinea and the islands of Malesia.
It prefers an open sunny to semi-shaded wind protected position and grows in well-drained organic rich moist to dry sandy to heavy clay loam that is tending acidic. It is drought tolerant but frost tender.
The Queensland Crepe Myrtle is grown for its large showy flowers and its bushy growth habit. It is planted in tropical gardens along borders for screening or used as a lawn specimen. It is also planted along forest margins for colour and used around water features for a tropical effect. It is suitable for coastal and inland regions and establishes in 3-4 years and is long lived. It is cultivated as far south as Coffs Harbour in New South Wales and is commonly grown in gardens along the coast. ID 3764
Lagerstroemia(lahg-er-STRUM-ee-a) archeriana (AR-cher-ee-AH-na)
'Lagerstroemia': after Swedish amateur botanical collector Magnus von Lagerstrom;
Lythraceae (ly-THRAY-see-ee)
Loosestrife, Pomegranate, Water Chestnut, Crepe Myrtle, Mangrove Apple