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Lantana camara
Verbenaceae FAMILY

Lantana camara

Lantana camara

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
4/5

Safety & Hazards

The leaves and seeds are toxic[1]. The unripe, green berries cause vomiting, diarrhoea, dilated pupils and laboured respiration if ingested[2]. The leaves may cause dermatitis[2].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Shrub
Growth—

Grows in a wide variety of habitats in the tropical and subtropical zones[3]. It has succeeded in areas where the annual rainfall is around 750mm, though is then usually found along creek lines[3]. It is also found in tropical areas receiving 3,000mm of rainfall per year, provided that the soils are sufficiently well drained[3]. The plant is tolerant of high temperatures, but seldom occurs where temperatures frequently fall below 5°c[3]. Some varieties can withstand minor frosts, provided these are infrequent; prolonged freezing temperatures kill aerial woody branches and cause defoliation[3]. Succeeds in a wide range of soils[3], preferably well-drained[4]. Succeeds in poor soils[4]. Grows well in dry areas but also present in wetter habitats[5]. Grows best in open, unshaded situations, but tolerates moderate shade[5, 3]. Locally becoming an aggressive and pernicious weed[5, 6]. This thorny shrub forms dense understorey vegetation that crowds out and inhibits establishment of other species[5]. Allelopathic substances are produced by shoots and roots which inhibit germination and growth of other plants[5, 7]. The plant is apt to form dense thickets, spreads very quickly, with one plant producing as many as 12,000 seeds a year[7]. At some sites, infestations have been so persistent that they have completely stalled the regeneration of rainforest for three decades[3]. Plants respond well to cutting back, able to resprout even from severe and repeated cutting back[3]. The plants can tolerate all but the hottest forest fires, quickly resprouting from the base[5]. Stems and leaves emit an unpleasant aroma when crushed[8]. The scent is similar to blackcurrants[3].

Propagation

Seed - Cuttings Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Lantana+camara>

Pollinators

Butterflies, Insects

References

  1. [1]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
  2. [2]Poisonous Plants of North Carolina — http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm ↩︎An excellent concise but comprehensive guide to toxic plants that grow in N. Carolina. It lists even those plants that are of very low toxicity, including several well-known food plants such as carrots and potatoes.
  3. [3]Global Invasive Species Database — http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/ ↩︎Very detailed information on almost 400 species (with more being added) of plants that have become weeds in areas outside their native range.
  4. [4]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
  5. [5]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
  6. [6]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  7. [7]Philippine Medicinal Plants — http://www.stuartxchange.org/CompleteList.html ↩︎A lovely site, giving brief details on the medicinal uses of several hundred (over 400 at the last count) plants in the Philippines, plus a picture of each plant.
  8. [8]Flowers of India — http://www.flowersofindia.net/ ↩︎A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars.
  9. [9]BoDD (Botanical Dermatology Database) — http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/ ↩︎Brief notes on a very wide range of plants that have reports of causing harm to the skin.
  10. [10]Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania — Ruffo, C.K.: Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B. · Regional Land Management Unit; Nairobi. · 2002 · ISBN 9966-896-60-0 ↩︎A very well presented, simple guide to growing and utilizing wild food plants in Tanzania, with line drawings of each plant, a description, habitat and range, non-food as well as food uses, plus basic information on growing the plants.
  11. [11]Oil Yielding Plants — Botanical Survey of India. · 2004 · http://mnes.nic.in/list/oil-plants.pdf ↩︎A PDF downloaded from the Internet. Very terse details about the applications of oil obtained from over 300 species of plants.
  12. [12]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region
  14. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎