Texas Wildbuds
Malpighia glabra
(Wild Crape-myrtle)
Malpighia grlabra, Falcon State Park, Starr Co. 4062
Malpighia grlabra, Falcon State Park, Starr Co. 4057
Malpighia grlabra, Falcon State Park, Starr Co. 4053
Malpighia grlabra, Falcon State Park, Starr Co. 4050
Malpighia grlabra, Falcon State Park, Starr Co. 4068
Malpighia grlabra, Falcon State Park, Starr Co. 6144
| Scientific Name | Malpighia glabra | USDA PLANTS Symbol | MAGL6 |
| Common Name | Wild Crape-myrtle, Barbados Cherry | ITIS Taxonomic Serial No. | 565291 |
| Family | Malpighiacaceae (Barbados Cherry) | SEINet Reference |
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| Description | Habitat: Sandy plains, thickets, brushlands and palm groves, Plant: Shrub or small tree, 4 to 8 ft tall, diffusely branched. Leaves: Bright green, opposite, narrowly to broadly elliptic or ovate, larger blades 1.2 to 4 inches long and 0.6 to 2 inches wide; tip usually acuminate, occasionally acute; on short petioles; surfaces are smooth or having a few fine, straight, appressed hairs. Inflorescence: Short cymes in leaf axils, 0.6 to 1.4 inches long with 4 to 10 flowers about 0.3-inch across, having pink, pink and white or lavender-pink petals that are somewhat spatula-shaped and lobed, fringed or toothed, narrowing at the base into a slender claw; ~10 stamens or sterile staminodes, styles nearly straight, parallel or spreading; calyx with 5 sepals, each with two large glands. Bloom Period: March to October. Fruit: Broadly ovoid, red drupe 0.3 to 0.5-inch across with three lobes. Reference: "Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas" by Correll and Johnston, Flora of North America and Backyard Nature. Note: While somewhat similar to the Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica) often planted as an ornamental further north in Texas and throughout the Southeast, the two are in different families and unrelated. |
BONAP Distribution Map Map Color Key |
Texas Status: Native |
Banner photo of Castilleja indivisa and Lupinus ssp. taken along FM 1323 north of Johnson City, Blanco County
© Tom Lebsack 2026
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