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LAGERSTROEMIA SPECIOSA L. - QUEEN'S FLOWER.
Common name: Queen's flower, pride of India, queen's crape myrtle, banaba.
Family: lythraceae (loosestrife family). Queen's flower is a tropical flowering tree growing up to 50 feet tall; it has smooth rounded leaves. The red-orange leaves have higher levels of corosolic acid. The flowers are racemes and are pink, purple or purplish - pink. The fruit is oval, about one inch long and splits in six pieces when mature. The seeds are small and have winged flaps. The reddish brownwood of pride of India is used for home building, furniture, boots, etc. Medicinal applications: roots are used for stomach problems. Tea of the leaves is used against diabetes mellitus and for weight loss. Banaba leaves are able to lower blood sugar due to, among other phytochemicals -, corosolic acid (triterpenoid glycoside). Although this is not the only active phyto-chemical. Banaba helps the body handling glucose and as such also effective in weight loss. Hardiness: USDA zone 9B - 11. Propagation: seeds. Culture: full sun. It has low salt tolerance. Plant in a frost free location. |