common lantana

plant

Also known as: Lantana camara

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 23, 2026

Quick Summary

Lantana is a genus of shrubs native to tropical America and Africa, belonging to the verbena family. The common lantana (L. camara) can grow up to 10 feet tall and is considered a weed in its native tropical America, though it's widely used as a garden plant elsewhere. It features nearly continuous blooms of yellow, orange, pink, and white flower heads, with aromatic, rough, oval leaves. After flowering, clusters of poisonous black berries appear. Trailing lantana (L. montevidensis) is a species from South America known for its small leaves, drooping habit, and rose-lavender flowers.123

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

conservation
Introduced species
>Lantana camara, for example, which were introduced as ornamental plants, have destroyed huge areas of grazing land worldwide.
Read More
>Lantana camara, for example, which were introduced as ornamental plants, have destroyed huge areas of grazing land worldwide.
Read More

Lantana
Common lantana (L. camara), growing to 3 metres (10 feet) tall, is a weed in tropical America, but elsewhere it is much used as a garden plant. It blooms almost continuously with yellow, orange, pink, and white flower heads in various colour combinations. The aromatic…
Read More
Common lantana (L. camara), growing to 3 metres (10 feet) tall, is a weed in tropical America, but elsewhere it is much used as a garden plant. It blooms almost continuously with yellow, orange, pink, and white flower heads in various colour combinations. The aromatic…
Read More

invasive species
A global problem
Arabian coffee (Coffea arabica), lantana (Lantana camara), and the ice cream bean (Inga edulis) are all invasive species that were brought as food or ornamental plants and escaped cultivation.
Read More
Arabian coffee (Coffea arabica), lantana (Lantana camara), and the ice cream bean (Inga edulis) are all invasive species that were brought as food or ornamental plants and escaped cultivation.
Read More