Lagerstroemia indica Black Solitaire Purely Purple - Crape Myrtle

Lagerstroemia indica Black Solitaire (renamed Black Diamond) 'Purely Purple', from the astonishing series of Indian Lilacs BLACK DIAMOND, bears summer clusters of frizzy flowers in bright mauve-violet shades, superbly highlighted by the dark mass of almost black foliage. Like all Black Solitaire varieties, this Lagerstroemia is more resistant to powdery mildew and tolerates cold as well as periods of moderate drought. Summer Myrtles are also appreciated for their richly coloured, ornamental bark. This variety, with moderate growth, is suitable for small gardens and pots. 

Lagerstroemia indica Black Solitaire 'Purely Purple' is part of a series of hybrids carefully selected in Texas from the 'EBONY' varieties, characterised by very dark foliage. Not exceeding 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in height, these Indian myrtles also stand out for their quite rapid growth and their ease of cultivation in any well drained soil. 

'Purely Purple' belongs to the Lythraceae family, just like Lagerstroemia indica, from which it derives and is native to China. This shrub has a bushy and branched habit from the base, with a slightly erect crown. It will reach on average 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in), rarely 3 m (9 ft 10), in height at maturity, with a diameter of 2 m. Its growth is quite rapid. Depending on the climate, it chooses the end of July to start flowering, which will continue until September. The inflorescences are groups of thin pedicels each bearing five petals with a very undulate edge, the texture of which look like that of crepe. They are gathered in dense panicles, at the end of this year's branches.

With 'Purely Purple', the pedicels and floral buds are a very dark purple-brown, then the floral buds bloom widely into mauve-violet shades, fading slightly at maturity. The centre of the flowers is highlighted by fine golden yellow stamens. The foliage, leathery and deciduous, keeps its very dark burgundy-chocolate-violet colour from spring to summer, then takes on more purplish hues in autumn, before falling. It is composed of small ovate and pointed leaves slightly undulated. Finally, and to complete its beauty, its beautiful bark is smooth, beige and striated with brown-red, and flakes to display cinnamon, faded red, old pink, cream marbling.

Indian myrtles are the glory of gardens. Preferring the humid and warm climate, it is a small tree that can also to be acclimatised in a colder area as it can also be quite hardy.  Enjoy it as a specimen shrub near the house. It will look good in a shrub bed, a flowering hedge, or emerging from a clump of perennials. Mix into a flowering bed with Campanula pyramidalis, Salvia sclarea or jamensis and Aster laevis. In autumn, it works well with Cotinus and deciduous spindle trees, with all their colour. It also creates a lovely display in a large pot on the patio, when other summer flowering plants are slowing down. Display this plant, Lagerstroemia indica Black Solitaire (Black Diamond) Purely Purple with a wonderful planting tapestry of groundcover with thymes, oreganos and other silver creeping plants weaving like a tapestry around the base of its trunk, highlighting its bark and reflecting the beauty of its bark, its black foliage and its pastel flowering. 

NB: Karl Von Linne named this tree to honour his friend Magnus Von Lagestroem (1696 – 1759), who had sent it to him from India for identification. Originally, this tree was used to decorate Chinese temples. We would like to point out that this tree produces fruits that have are poisonous if ingested.