Family: Verbenaceae
Common name: Lantana
A plant that grows by the roadside in plenty, but acts pricey when planted in a pot in your garden! Most common colors are pink, orange, yellow, red and white. There are over 150 species of Lantanas, some of them growing into big bushes in the wild.
They grow abundantly in the wild since its leaves are poisonous to grazing animals, but the berries are a delicacy for birds aiding in effective propagation. The leaves and berries are toxic to humans, but the stems are used to make furniture.
Lantana flowers are grown in butterfly gardens since they are preferred by butterflies, bees and other insects. The plant is considered an invasive weed in some areas and different measures are taken to eradicate them. Biological methods using bugs and moths that ate Lantana leaves failed to curb the spread of this species. The only option is to manually remove the plants or seeds before they reproduce.
Propagation is through seeds, which would fall down and germinate by itself. And also through stem cuttings.
Photo Courtesy: love4gardening.com
