Are there any trees that can be confused with crape myrtles?

Question

I believe I have a crape myrtle (Acoma...white flowers) in my front yard, but I'm not positive. I have been looking at pictures of crape myrtles on the internet, but they don't look like my tree. The leaves and flowers seem to be the same, but the tree itself doesn't look like the ones in the pictures. I think that might be because I've never pruned the tree before. It's about 6-7 feet tall, and my leaves and flowers don't grow only at the top (like the pics), they are all over the place.
Anyway, I want to trim some of the lower branches from covering my shrubs. So, before I prune it to look like the pictures (not the whacked off ones), I was just curious as to whether or not there are any trees that could be confused with a crape myrtle. I read on one website where someone confused their dogwood for a crape myrtle, so I looked up dogwood...and it's definitely not a dogwood.
Thanks!

Answer 1

There *are* many plants that can be confused with Crepe myrtle, so I can't possibly identify them, but...not as many that can be confused by the flower, if you look closely. Also, crepe myrtles have distinctive bark, which can help to ID them.

Plants and trees are most reliably identified by their flowers (shape, not color), so if the flowers are identical, chances are that it is a crepe myrtle. Botanists used to identify and classify plants solely by flower structure (before genetic testing) because it is such a good indicator of a plant's identity. So--if you want a sure ID, look very closely at the flowers on your plant and compare them to closeup flowers on the net.

There are many horticultural varieties that can alter the shape of a plant. For instance, there are dwarf varieties, compact varieties, etc. Also, crepe myrtle grows very differently in different environments. In Texas, I once saw very narrow, thin ones growing up against the side of a building--almost two stories tall. In southern Maryland, I saw very large, thick, bushy ones. In Pennsylvania where it is cold, they will only grow as small bushes, low to the ground.

Pruning can also affect them. My advice about pruning though is that you should not prune plants unless it's an absolute necessity. But if the plant is crowding out other plants though, you can cut off a few of the lower branches to allow other plants room to grow.

I hope this helps! It's hard to give you an exact answer without seeing your plant!

Answer 2

It might be a lilac.
Does it bloom in spring or summer?
Lilacs bloom in spring and Crape myrtles bloom in summer.
The blooms on a lilac look a whole lot like a crape myrtle.