The Muskogee Crape Myrtle is a hybrid between the Japanese Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia faurei) and the common Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), which was developed by the US National Arboretum in 1978. The Muskogee Crape Myrtle produces long lasting clusters of light lavender flowers. Each cluster within the Muskogee Crape Myrtle has hundreds of lavender flowers and each cluster can range from 8” to 16” long. The Muskogee Crape Myrtle also has one of the longest flowering periods of any Crape Myrtle, 120 days. The Muskogee Crape Myrtle has a very tall and vigorous growing habit with small alternate leaves that are rounded at the base and are 1” to 3” long. The Muskogee Crape Myrtle has leaves that are glossy green in the summer and in the fall they turn yellow and red. Each summer the Muskogee Crape Myrtle exfoliates its cinnamon colored bark in thin strips to expose a smooth and light gray colored bark. The Muskogee Crape Myrtle is adaptable to a wide range of soil types, very drought tolerant and has a very good resistance to powdery mildew.