Lantana, West Indian (Lantana camara)

NATIVE RANGE:

Central & South America

DESCRIPTION:

Small perennial shrub that grows in dense thickets, small flowers bloom in clusters with a dark blue fruit inedible to humans but loved by birds.

INVASIVE SPECIES:

Lantana makes a lovely ornamental plant, and that’s why it was brought from its Caribbean home to the Old World as early as the 17th Century. Humans and birds continued to spread this plant from European gardens to now over 60 tropical and subtropical countries. In several areas it has become a threatening invasive species that out competes native plants, lessens biodiversity, and contributes to a lack of food plants for the local animals. When planting any exotic species of plant in your garden, it is important to do your research and prevent seeds from invasive plants from spreading into urban and suburban wild areas.