Typically, crape myrtles are red, pink, or white, but with this LoRA, you can depict crape myrtles in colors that do not exist in nature or in rare colors. The Peppermint Race (夏日祭), which features a striking contrast between the red center and white edges, is a popular variety.
The National Flower Horticulture Research Center reportedly announced in September 2017 that it had approved a new variety of crape myrtle, 'Lingmeng (灵梦),' developed by Beijing Forestry University.
The leaf arrangement of the crape myrtle is called the orixate-type* phyllotaxis, where the direction of leaf attachment changes systematically in the sequence of right, left, front, back, and so on. On a horizontally oriented branch, it often appears that two leaves are attached on the left, followed by two on the right, and so on. This appearance is due to the twisting of the petioles. In terms of angular degrees, it follows a periodic change of 180 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees.
*Maekawa et al., "Folia orixata, a new type of phyllotaxis and its significance to phyllotaxis evolution." The Journal of Plant Research, Vol. 61, December 20, 1947.
The phyllotaxis is believed to transition from whorled to opposite, then to the orixate-type arrangement, and finally to alternate*. The orixate-type phyllotaxis is considered an intermediate stage in the evolution from opposite to alternate phyllotaxis.
*Yonekura et al., "Breaking symmetry in plant phyllotaxis." PLOS Computational Biology, June 6, 2019.