Crape myrtle
The
crape myrtle is a large bush of Chinese origin used as an ornamental. It has sinewy-looking stems whose bark peels off; each year the parts peel off between those that peeled off last year, or where squirrels scratch it, giving a patchy appearance. The flowers have six or seven crinkly-edged petals on stalks, sticking out between the sepals, which are simple triangular points. The fruit is a capsule, green at first, then ripening to black, which opens along six or seven lines, producing teeth much like those of the calyx, and releasing twelve or fourteen small winged seeds.