''Lantana montevidensis'' is a species of

lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially ...

known by many common names, such as: trailing lantana, weeping lantana, creeping lantana, small lantana, purple lantana or trailing shrubverbena. This lantana is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

Description

''Lantana montevidensis'' is a small strongly scented flowering low shrub with oval-shaped green leaves. With support it has a climbing '

vine A vine ( Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners thems ...

' form, when on edge a trailing form, and on the flat a groundcover form. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

is a circular head of several purple to lavender to white funnel-shaped flowers with lobed corollas each nearly a centimeter wide. Yellow-flowered ''montevidensis'' are a case of misidentification and most often relate to the "New Gold" lantana ''Lantana × hybrida'', a hybrid between ''camara'' and ''montevidensis''. Occasionally these yellow-flowered plants are misidentified ''Lantana depressa'' var. depressa, a Florida endemic taxon more closely related to ''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...

'' with smaller, less robust flowers. The fruit consists of a pair of nutlets surrounded by flesh somewhat like a berry.

Cultivation

''Lantana montevidensis'' is also cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

for its plentiful colorful lavender to purple flowers and as a

drought tolerant Drought tolerance is the ability to which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tolerance, det ...

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as ...

, woody vine, and trailing plant for containers and in the ground. In temperate climates there are flowers most of the year, with yellow blooming and variegated leaved cultivars also available.

Invasive species

The plant is present nearly worldwide as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived the ...

of garden and landscape

plant Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

, and in some areas, such as parts of Australia and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

, now a

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...

and

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

. This plant is toxic to livestock.

Etymology

The name ''Lantana'' derives from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

name of the wayfaring tree '' Viburnum lantana'', the flowers of which closely resemble ''Lantana''.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 230

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentWeed StatusNew Gold Lantana
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2745947 montevidensis Flora of northern South America Flora of southern South America Flora of western South America Garden plants of South America Drought-tolerant plants Vines Groundcovers