Lantana

NOXIOUS WEED:  Class 5

Lantana camara

family: VERBENACEAE

Description

  • Large fast-growing much-branched sprawling shrub from Central and South America, with square brittle prickly stems. Can become vine-like, and scramble up into trees and shrubs.
  • Lantana is spread into bushland by fruit-eating birds, and also by the dumping of garden waste. Stems lying on moist soil will layer (grow roots).
  • Flower heads are flat, 2-3cm across, consist of many tiny tubular flowers, and come in a variety of colours from cream through pink and red, often in combination. Flowers most of the year.
  • A cluster of fleshy purplish-black berries follows the flower.

Dispersal

Lantana is spread into bushland by fruit-eating birds, and also by the dumping of garden waste. Stems lying on moist soil will layer (grow roots).

Impact on Bushland

Aggressively invades rich soils in open forest, disturbed rainforest and creeklines, competes vigorously with native species, forms impenetrable thickets, creates dense shade and heavy leaf litter. Reduces biodiversity, transforms ecosystems.

Distribution

Lower Blue Mountains.

Alternative Planting

Native Plants
Dense local native shrubs:
Spike Wattle (Acacia oxycedrus)
Needlebush (Hakea sericea)
Blackthorn (Bursaria spinosa)
Mountain Devil (Lambertia formosa).

Control

Remove and bag fruit. Pull out, dig out, or cut and paint. Do not leave cut stems on the ground. Do not compost or use as mulch.

Lantana is a Weed of National Significance.

Lantana is a Class 5 Noxious Weed.

Characteristics
Class 5 noxious weeds are plants that are likely, by their sale or the sale of their seeds or movement within the State or an area of the State, to spread in the State or outside the State.

Control objective
Prevent the introduction of those plants into NSW, the spread of those plants within NSW or from NSW to another jurisdiction.

Control action
The requirements in the Noxious Weeds Act 1993. for a notifiable weed must be complied with.

— NSW Noxious Weeds Act of 1993

Lantana forms impenetrable thickets.

Lantana forms impenetrable thickets.

Flowerheads of Lantana consist of many tiny tubular flowers.

Flowerheads of Lantana consist of many tiny tubular flowers.

Picture of Lantana

Lantana has a variety of colours and combinations; this is the most common in the Blue Mountains.

Berries of Lantana ripen to purplish black.

Berries of Lantana ripen to purplish black.