crape myrtle

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A deciduous shrub (Lagerstroemia indica) native to China and widely cultivated in warm regions for its showy clusters of variously colored flowers with crinkled petals.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A shrub, Lagerstræmia Indica. Also called Indian lilac. See lilac and Lagerstræmia.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any of the genus Lagerstroemia, family Lythraceae, shrubs or small trees, certain of which are ornamental, bearing big gaudy blooms.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) a very ornamental shrub (Lagerströmia Indica) from the East Indies, often planted in the Southern United States. Its foliage is like that of the myrtle, and the flower has wavy crisped petals.
2. n. an tall East Indian and Chinese shrub (Lagerstroemia indica of the loosestrife family, commonly planted in Southern and Western U. S. as an ornamental shrub. It has clusters of red, white, purple, or pink flowers.
3. n. See under Crape.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. ornamental shrub from eastern India commonly planted in the southern United States