Lythraceae

The Lythraceaefamily includes 31 genera and620 species of shrubs, trees and herbaceous plants.They are spread in the regions of tropical climate where the diversity of species is larger, and the familyalso grows in the temperate climatic zones.
Of this family, in Bulgaria there grows the Lagerstroemia indica L. It is a deciduous shrub or tree with a height of up to 7 meters. The young branches are pronouncedly four-walled with narrow winged edges.The old branches and the stems are round and smooth, with pink-brown bark. The leavesare 3-5 cm long elliptic and elongated, sharpened, bare and opposed at the base of the branches, and alternate at the top. The flowers are topical, 15-20cm long pyramidal panicles. The fruit is a capsule. Bloom is late and prolonged – from August to October. The species is sensitive to low winter temperatures.