Abstract
‘Muskogee’ and ‘Natchez’ Lagerstroemia (crapemyrtle) are the first cultivars to be produced by controlled interspecific hybridization with L. fauriei Koehne. These cultivars are unique with resistance to mildew incited by Erysiphe lagerstroemiae E. West; pronounced bark coloration; and prolific flowering.
Abstract
‘Tuskegee’ is the first Lagerstroemia indica L. × L. fauriei Koehne cultivar with dark pink to near red flowers and is the 4th U.S. National Arboretum mildew-(Erysiphe lagerstroemiae E. West.) resistent introduction from the controlled hybridization of the parental species. The 3 prior L. indica × L. fauriei introductions are ‘Muskogee’, NA 38448; ‘Natchez’, NA 38449; and ‘Tusca-rora’, NA 41787 (4, 5). In addition, 6 L. indica cultivars (‘Catawba’, NA 28861; ‘Cherokee’, NA 30167; ‘Conestoga’, NA 28862; ‘Potomac’, NA 28863; ‘Powhatan’, NA 28864; and ‘Seminole’, NA 30166) (2, 3), introduced by the U.S. National Arboretum, are highly mildew tolerant, but not immune.
Abstract
‘Tuscarora’, with dark coral flowers (Fig.1), is the first significant flower color break recovered among L. indica L. × L. fauriei Koehne progeny. Lagerstroemia, commonly known as crapemyrtle, for the most part has been commercially distributed only in red, pink, lavender, and white flower forms. Although The Lagerstroemia Handbook/Checklist (1) enumerates numerous cultivars, few have proved superior to unnamed color forms, or have been of commercial significance, because of mildew incited by Erysiphe lagerstroemiae E. West. From earlier hybridization at the U.S. National Arboretum, 6 mildew-resistant L. indica cultivars (‘Catawba’, ‘Cherokee’, ‘Conestoga’, ‘Potomac’, ‘Powhatan’, and ‘Seminole’) have been introduced (2, 3). More recently, the profuse flowering of L. indica was recombined with the bark coloration, mildew resistance, and growth habit characteristics of L. fauriei to produce ‘Muskogee’ and ‘Natchez’ (4). ‘Tuscarora’ is another noteworthy advance in the breeding of mildew-free Lagerstroemia cultivars.
released more than 30 cultivars over the past 50 years, have focused on crapemyrtle resistance to diseases such as powdery mildew ( Erysiphe lagerstroemiae E. West) and combinations of other desirable horticultural traits ( Pooler, 2006 ; Pooler and Dix