Lantana camara

Lantana camara L. 1753, also known as Red Yellow Lantana, West Indian Lantana, Spanish Flag or Red Yellow Sage, is a tropical shrub or bush, native to tropical America.

The tropical plant with its beautiful two-coloured flowers has become very popular in tropical countries around the world, but escaped cultivation. Nowadays Lantana camara is considered as an invasive species in many tropical and sub-tropical areas. Seeds are dispersed by birds and while plants colonize new areas, they are very difficult to nearby impossible to eradicate. We can confirm that, as we`ve got a Lantana camara in the backyard of our garden, comming from the neighbourhood. The plant got bigger and bigger and we`ve got more and more new shots. Finally we`ve been digging the roots out, but we still get a lot of new shoots every year. Beside its beautiful flowers this plant is a real weed and while established, You`ll not get rid of it. There are several flower colours available in our home country Thailand and the different colours are used for grafting. So single plants with several flower colours are available. The leaves of Lantana camara have a pungent odor, which is not everbodys darling. All parts of the plant, which belongs to the verbena family (Verbenaceae), are toxic. Lantana camara bushes get a height of about 1,50 meter.

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Image: Lantana camara