LANTANA CAMARA: CHARACTERISTICS, HABITAT, USES, CARE - BIOLOGY - 2025

Lantana camara is a perennial plant that belongs to the Verbenaceae family. It is a fast-spreading shrub, considered in some cases a weed difficult to control. This shrub is native to Central and South America, and is invasive in tropical regions of the old world, especially on the African continent.

It is popularly known as lantana, red-flowered sage, wild sage, sleepy herb, camara, and cariaquillo, among others. Lantana camara is characterized by being a relatively branched erect shrub.

Source: pixabay.com

This plant produces yellow flowers that change to orange and red, and which remain in the axillary inflorescences for at least three days. This species generally reproduces by seeds, although it can also be propagated vegetatively.

Due to its invasive nature, L. camara is considered an ecologically tolerant plant. However, certain environmental conditions are favorable for it, such as open areas to receive sun.

Lantana is a shrub that causes serious losses to the agricultural industry, due to its competitive behavior against various crop plants. The control of this plant involves the use of herbicides and the burning of colonized areas.

This plant is frequently used as an ornamental and medicinal plant. However, it is considered poisonous to livestock and domestic animals such as cats and dogs. Toxins such as lantadene A have been characterized from leaves of this plant, which produces photosensitization and various physiological changes in animals.

characteristics

Bush

Lantana camara is a vigorous shrub, short, erect or descending, which can be between 2 and 4 meters high. It is a plant that presents a lot of branching, which can cover an area of ​​up to 1 m2 in diameter.

Lantana camara. Dguendel

The stem in cultivated varieties does not present thorns, although it does present them in weeds. In addition, it is woody, square in cross section, pubescent when young, and cylindrical up to 15 cm thick when adult.

Leaves

The leaves are ovate or oblong, 2 to 10 cm long and 2 to 6 cm wide. They are arranged in the opposite way and arranged in pairs. In addition, each leaf hangs from a 2 cm long petiole and is bright green, with a rough appearance, with small hairs, with serrated margins; and they give off foul smells when cut.

Lantana camara. Franz Xaver

Inflorescence

It is a dense, axillary spike with a head shape 1 to 3 cm wide. Each contains 20 to 40 flowers that vary from white to cream or yellow to orange, and sometimes pink to red. Flowering occurs year-round with a peak during the first two months of rain.

Lantana camara flowers are self-incompatible and therefore require cross pollination, which is carried out by butterflies and thrips.

Fruit

The fruit is a drupe of almost 0.5 cm in diameter, silvery blue when immature, which becomes dark blue when ripe. The ripe fruits are sweet and are eaten by birds.

Taxonomy

- Kingdom: Plantae.

- Subkingdom: Viridiplantae.

- Infra kingdom: Streptophyte.

- Super division: Embriofita.

- Division: Tracheophyte.

- Subdivision: Eufilofitina.

- Infra division: Lignofita.

- Class: Spermatophyte.

- Subclass: Magnoliofita.

- Superorder: Asteranae.

- Order: Lamiales.

- Family: Verbenaceae.

- Tribe: Lantaneae.

- Genus: Lantana.

- Species: Lantana camara Linnaeus- lantana.

Habitat and distribution

Habitat

Lantana camara generally grows in open areas with no shady conditions. This shrub usually establishes itself in any type of habitat and soil. However, it prefers to grow on sewage shores, on the fringes of rainforests, on beaches, in cultivated areas, on grasslands, riparian zones, in scrublands, urban areas, and on wet soils.

Lantana camara. Vengolis

In turn, L. camara does not grow in areas where the average temperature is 5 ⁰C or less. It is distributed altitudinally from sea level to 2000 meters above sea level, and can grow in areas with an annual rainfall range of 750 to 5000.

Lantana camara is a shrub that generally colonizes disturbed forests, and in intact forests it usually establishes itself in small empty spaces, where sunlight reaches.

Although it is an ecologically tolerant plant, it does not grow in frozen areas, in saline soils, or in soils with low water retention capacity.

Distribution

Lantana camara is native to Central and South America, without a clear natural distribution, as it overlaps with ornamental varieties. This shrub is widely used as an ornamental plant in the Neotropics, and is present on all continents except Antarctica.

It is a plant that has spread throughout the world including Australia, India, and South Africa, countries where it is considered invasive because it infects millions of hectares.

Applications

Lantana camara is mainly used as a medicinal plant and in some places for firewood and straw. In some countries it is planted on margins to keep livestock separate.

Lantana camara foliar extract has been shown to have antimicrobial, fungicidal, insecticidal, and nematicidal properties. This plant is a producer of verbascoside, a phenylethanoid and a phenylpropanoid, which have antimicrobial, immunosuppressive, and anti-tumor properties.

Lantana oil is used to treat skin conditions and as an antiseptic for wounds. On the other hand, the lantana stem, if treated with sulfur, can be used to produce writing paper. In some places, this plant has been used as an ornamental shrub.

Toxicity

Cattle are the most affected by the consumption of the leaves of this plant, since it causes poisoning to most of the animals. The first symptom after consumption is constipation. Subsequently, the facial parts of the hairless face show swelling and the muzzle becomes dry, followed by excoriation.

Nervous signs include ataxia, muscle weakness, and hind limb paralysis. Another consequence of its consumption is that animals avoid sunlight and prefer to be in the dark.

In addition, the consumption of lantana leaves decreases gastrointestinal activity, produces constipation, and induces the production of bile pigments in the urine.

Other physiological disorders include increased bilirubin levels, accompanied by increased hematocrit and neutrophil levels, and decreased number of thrombocytes in the blood. Substances such as lantadene A and lantadene B have been isolated from lantana leaves and have been characterized as showing toxic qualities

Care

Lantana camara is a widely distributed plant with a vast ecological range. Although it is a plant used as an ornamental shrub, it does not have a specific care and this is also due to its invasive nature. In some cases, it is considered a weed, contaminating the cultivated soils of the old continent.

Basically, if you want to grow it as an ornamental plant, it should be planted in places where it receives direct sunlight. Also, to avoid unwanted propagation, it is advisable to burn the fruits to prevent the seeds from spreading.

References

1. Nanjappa, HV, Saravanane, P., Ramachandrappa, BK 2005, Biology and management of Lantana camara L. A review. Agric. Rev, 26 (4): 272-280.
2. Sharma, OP, Makkar, HPS, Dawra, R K., Negi, SS 1981. A Review of the Toxicity of Lantana camara (Linn) in Animals. Clinical Toxicology, 18 (9): 1077–1094.
3. USDA. (2004). Reproductive biology and invasive potential of Lantana camara cultivars. Taken from: reeis.usda.gov
4. The Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network. (2019). Pest fact sheet: Lantana camara. Taken from: apfisn.net
5. The Taxonomicon. (2004-2019). Taxon: Species Lantana camara Linnaeus - lantana (plant). Taken from: taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl