Hello, a short while ago there was an ID request for one of these plants. This reminded me that for some time I had meant to ask a question.

May I ask please if the correct name is Crepe or Crape? Crepe Myrtle or Crape Myrtle?

When I look online for an answer it seems there is a controversy and no one can say for sure which is correct. Is this a regional thing? Will we ever agree? Even in our own database we have plants listed some as 'crepe' and some as 'crape'.

Please help me out to know the correct (or should I say 'accepted') word to use because this is creeping me out.

So right, it is spelled both ways in our database. I'm voting for Crepe Myrtle being the correct name, since I think the common name came from the flowers which look like crepe paper.

Yeah, it's crepe-ing me out too.

Both are right but many Lagerstroemia experts and breeders insist on using Crapemyrtle.

Elaine is right, though, that it is named after crepe paper and this is why I've always preferred crepe myrtle.

It's probably because they don't know how to spell crepe paper. I say that jokingly, but there may well be an element of truth in it.

This link tells me about the controversy. http://www.garden.com/garden-a...

And says: "The scientific name is lagerstroemia crape myrtle." But then again they did not capitalize the first letter of Lagerstroemia, so . When I look that up I don't see that on other sites, I see Lagerstroemia indica and others.

I also did not know how to spell crepe paper.

I've always spelled it Crape Myrtle feeling I eat crepes but grow Crape Myrtles.

Well, it seems the dictionaries have crape and crepe as synonyms, although the spelling "crape" is the archaic version.

So I guess both versions of the name can be right. Btw the crepes you eat are called that because they are very thin pancakes with a crepe texture (if cooked properly on a corrugated crepe pan). Like the flowers on the Crepe Myrtle.

Crepe is also originally a silk, cotton or very thin wool fabric with a crinkled texture and crepe paper was called that because it looked like crepe fabric.

Maybe we could pick one spelling and have the database in agreement?

Yum, crepes with blueberries and a bit of sour cream.

And wasn't black crepe used for mourning clothing for women?

T'was, woofie.

That was very itchy fabric!

Anyway...
I just noticed that I misspelled my title on this thread as you probably figured out by now.
It was supposed to read Crepe or Crape for good old Myrtle. Sorry for the typo.

It would appear, according to Wikipedia and at least to my ears, that in the Parisian pronunciation of "crepe," the first "e" is pronounced more like the "e" in "crept" rather than the "a" in "drape."
I want to start a movement! Let's abolish "crape" as an accepted spelling for Crepe myrtle! It looks nasty in print, anyway!

I like 'Crape Myrtles' and that's my story and I am sticking to it!

Me, too!

When I first learned about them I thought they were called "Grape" myrtles!

This could last for a while.

Care for some popcorn?



I always thought it was "crape" but after reading this most fascinating delve into the name, I now feel far less certain of my choice.

How about a link to this thread added to the database for the plant somehow? Or is that too hard to do?

Finally, now I'm wondering about the "myrtle" part of the name. Uh-oh, another rabbit hole....

Now's our chance to form the Myrtle Liberation Front and change the name entirely. I propose "Cotton Candy Bush". Who's with me!!??!!

As a professional editor, BOTH crape and crepe are correct and acceptable spelling when referring to paper, cloth, plant, etc. This is the fun and splendor of the English language...the rules are always bendable.

While I do appreciate everyone's attempt at humor (including my own lame attempt), I was actually looking for an answer. It is not for each individual to decide which name they like best; there must be some agreement in the botanical community as to which name is 'more correct' or 'more accepted'. Please, what do the experts say about this confusion?

If our ATP database is to set a shining example for those who come after us, we should have the plant listed either one way or the other and not both.