I have noticed it too. All varieties of lantana and all of its hybrids was supposed to be declared a weed of national significance about 3 years ago but I heard on the lantana vine (pun intended) it fell flat. I also heard, because of the amount of lantana in National Parks and roadways it would have sent the respective local govts. broke if they complied.

All hearsay but I could well imagine it could really happen.

As far as I know it is still listed as an environmental weed. This doesn't make it a noxious weed or illegal to have or maybe even plant. There is some argument to keep the lantana as it has naturalised to an area and it does supply a habitat to native fauna. If it were to be removed it would have to be done over a long term so that the fauna would still have somewhere to go untill the replanted native plants have established.

It is a problem and in the perfect world the long term eradication would be the way to go, BUT???????

Doug.

I've seen red lantana and a yellow one called sun ray or something for sale at three different nurseries, one was mitre 10 but the others were proper garden shops. Isn't it wrong for them to be selling it, if they know what can happen? Or is it more something you shouldn't plant if you live near the bush or whatever?

The Brisbane City Council list both Lantana camara (to big shrubby one) and Latana montevidensis (creeping one with yellow or pink flowers) as weeds. However, whether you are prohibited from planting them, I don't know.

Bernard,

See my posting above. The BCC and the DNR list them as environmental weedsbut that doesn't necessarily make them illegal.

FYI. A few more environmental weeds that many don't realise they are listed but not illegal.

Jacaranda, Euc torelliana (it has been renamed??)African Tulip tree, Tipuana, Golden Rain Tree, Coffee, Impatiens. And so the list goes on. There must be thousands of the first 5 planted through out Brisbane by the BCC. I have heard the Poinsianna may be going the same way.

Doug.

Yes, the BCC list is just good enough to wrap your sandwich in, in my opinion.

According to Stirling Macaboys What Flower is That, sterile hybrids of Lantana Camara are not a problem, neither is lantana montevidensis so I would say in the majority of cases this is what is offered for sale. Lantana montevidensis has white or mauve flowers, not red or pink. Botanica also says that the ornamental cultivars are not a weed problem.

Debyork,

When the Fed. Govt. declared lantana a weed of national significance they included L. montevidensis and all lantana hybrids however it seems to have fallen by the way. In my opinion all lantana should be pulled out and destroyed. There are plenty of options to lantana, both native and exotic without taking the risks of it getting out of hand.

Doug.

About a year ago a copy of the national strategic plan for lantana (its exact title eludes me) came past me; here's a quote from it: " most if not all of the varieties can hybridise with each other increasing the genetic variability of the species. Some commercial varieties previously thought to be sterile may produce seed or cross with other forms. The continual increase in the genetic variability compromises biological control of lantana and increases its adaptability to new environments."

I view all varieties as weeds, and hope though nurseries are permitted to sell it they would take some initiative in presenting alternatives to the consumer. After lantana's 150 years in Australia, I accept that it's providing habitat for certain native fauna and am all for paced control in sensitive areas.

As for L. montevidensis, the hills are alive with it on Kroombit Tops and in adjacent farming and grazing land as well as elsewhere. There is work being done on ecology and control as it's not just a scaled down L. camara. Observing its spread on my bit of dirt north of Rocky, I've never found a seedling in the garden unlike L. camara, but the infestation is spreading on a face along and out from the creek, presumably by vegetative means. Rose.

Rose,

Have you heard any more about "The Strategic Plan for Lantana"?
Hearsay info was it went by the wayside.
The people who keep telling us the hybrids are OK should read the Plan and the heed the Plan.

Burn it all, I say.

Doug.

Doug, well no, but am out of the loop. Shall make some enquiries. Rose.

Doug, I called the local Land Protection person then proceeded to get a very bad attack of poor recall. She spoke of a new Land Protection Act for mid-year which will name L.camara and montevidensis as environmental weeds. Which is interesting when you consider that L.c. is onthe big list. i almost hope you don't find this pathetic excuse for a response and I will email you when/ if something more coherent is generated! Rose.

Thanks for the info Rose. (A bit late in replying.)
I dammed if I know why people want to buy any form of lantana. It is available for free along the roadside.
It may have an attractive flower to some people (can't imagine why) and it is an UGLY plant for 365 days of the year.

Doug.

I dont know why anyone would want to plant it. Apart from being ugly, and a weed, it stinks. Its the most disgusting smelling plant around. As for the people that say some species are sterile, it can grow from the smallest bit of a cutting and take roots, so when birds chew a bit off the end and drop it somewhere, it can start growing. All species should be banned from sale.

My Rocky neighbour told me the lantana out in the open was looking sick, didn't have a chance to check it out but saw some near St Lawrence which was infested with a kind of sap sucker and looked quite unwell. Hope to find out if this was one of the released bio-control agents and hope it still persists over winter. Rose.

Oh Lantana makes the best compost, home to furry animals, has edible fruit both to humans and animals, nice flowers for butterflies, keeps the soil moisture in and from what Ive seen about (only) a couple of trees grow through it, namely Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, Elaeocarpus angustiflolius.
BUT I agree with Doug, it should be removed.
I have seen a large number of a Beetle species eating the leaves of it in NE NSW, it certainly affected the plants and seemed to reduce their vigour.
It is a quite amazing plant really as Ive seen it growing quite well from the lowlands in NE QLD to around Melbourne.
A remarkable adaptative quest which it has succeeded in.
Kris

Even at my hungriest I wouldn't be eating lantana fruit... you are kidding, Kris??

I don't know why anyone would want plant lantana. I inherited one in my garden which I keep cut back to prevent flowering until I get around to pulling it out.

Kris, you must be joking.
The fruit/berry of L.camara is very toxic to man and beast. Children are at risk because the black berry looks good, and tastes sweet(I understand)! Please remove that bit about edible fruit etc.

Lantananine depending on intake, and the fruits have the highest concentration, causes photosensitivity in cattle, the skin of their nose and tongue peel and they die a horrible death unless put down. On post mortem their liver is quite yellow with a distinctive odour. Once an animal has ingested enough and becomes affected it goes for deep shade, shakes its head frequently and even the quietest one will charge at anyone (even on a horse) who comes near. I am talking from first hand experience at Innisfail.

Read Selwyn Everest's 1960s QDPI book on Poisonous Plants in Qld if your Library can call it up.

sweeney, I'm glad you expanded on the effects. I've got some images of sick cattle if anyone is interested; don't think they'd be very appreciated on the gallery! Rose.

I heard some of the varieties of lantana are not invasive at all and wont even grow from the seeds??

I am sure you will find this to be the case?

PAUL

Its not just from seed that they grow. They will take root from any bit of a cutting that is dropped anywhere-Like when Birds chew pieces off. Even though the seed is sterile, they are still weeds for this reason.

We need to compare apples with apples.

Yes I have seen a yellow lantana hybrid in my next door neighbours garden in Brisbane, that seems to behave reasonably well.I assume it is a sterile hybrid and I doubt if any birds would transplant it. Or the probability is so insignificant as to be forgettable.

Even though this Lantana sppX. c.v.yellow, makes a pretty and floriferous path-border, I believe there are plenty of other plants to do the same job, and fragrance the area as well e.g. Gardenia etc.etc.

And the history of Luther Burbank (1849-1926) and his much touted (recessive) "thornless' prickly pear which quickly reverted to a very spiky noxious weed and made him out as foolish, gives me some pondering. A Brisbane suburb is named after Burbank for his better exploits with 800+ new strains of plants.

Poisonous berries?

I've eaten kilos of lantana berries, without any negative side effects. I thought I was "living off the land".

I'm not sure I believe the bit about them being poisonous. Perhaps the leaves, but not the berries.

They taste nice, by the way, but the large seed spoils it. You really only get to roll the fruit around in your mouth to remove the outer skin and flesh.

Choose the purply-black berries with shiny skins. The dull ones aren't as nice.

Lauren, You're not pulling our leg?? There's Sweeney's reply on 14 April above, also the link below. I thought there were 28-29 biotypes but a fair few are covered here. If/ when I find a specific reference about seeds, I'll post it. Rose.

Here is a link that might be useful: toxicity of lantana biotypes

Thank you Rose. The Mount Morgan Shire pamphlet publishes that the common and small flowered pink flowering lantana (which thrive in SEQ)are two of three edible types out of 18.

Several cultivars of Lantana camara are very toxic particularly the red with yellow centre in N Qld. A 1948 text - CSIR Bulletin 232 Web, L.J. (Len), "Guide to the Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Queensland" describes the pink is toxic in N.Qld. p.168.

I would check with the Alan Fletcher Research Station on (07) 3375 0700 or with someone who had tested the berries at that stage of ripeness, before having a feed. Taster beware!

I just posted a message under another lantana heading saying that I found a red flowered lantana with an inner yellow circle just like that horrible weed one, for sale in a garden wharehouse in Cairns, just this week. I think I should ring the company and ask them to assure me that it is not that pest. I have also recently purchased a yellow, a white, and a mauve. They should be ok shouldn't they? I thought they were sterile?. I remember more than 20 years ago, I actually bought singapore daisy from a nursery. What a nightmare that was. I clipped it and threw the cuttings into the cow paddock. Needless to say one year latter I was out there with a hoe digging every tiny bit back up putting it into a bag and burning it. And it was hugh.That was just the only way. I also managed a property only a few years ago where the owner had every pest know to gardners growing there. mother-in-law tongue. purple vincas, terrible succulent things and milky weed things. They had all been lovingly planted!

Lilly1, there's a posting somewhere on one of these forums about ALL lantana soon being banned for sale by nurseries ...problem is, I can't remember where it is!!!

Courier-mail garden page (Bris, last Sunday) gave the link.
From 1st November it will be illegal in Qld to sell any Lantana including the hybrids. Also getting the chop are African Tulip Trees, Tecoma Stans and Singapore daisy among othrs.

Here is a link that might be useful: new garden pests.

Sure there's lantana for sale, especially at Bunnings here in Perth and other nurseries around. Mum's got a red one, a yellow one and a purple one. The purple one sprawls out under the frangipani, the yellow one is a hedge which grows in mostly shade and the red one sort of grows like a daisy, only with a 50cm radius to the amount it spans out. THEY certainly behave and at least no weeds grow up through the foliage. The purple one also keeps the grass at bay from the front garden bed. All these came from a nursery of some sort and were planted from pots. Also, they flower quite often, it ISN'T ugly and it doesn't stink, although it is a bummer retrieving a ball from the plant cos it has this small spurs on the branches which scratch. Ermm, besides that, lots of other people grow it around here. I've seen the red and yellow the most often, and there's a white in the next street, as well as a purple one which is grown sort of like our iceberg roses.

However, just as a little experiment, I'll break a little bit of lantana off each plant and drop it out the front near the nature strip between the sidewalk and the wall out in full sun to see if they start growing. That way, we'll see if, here in Perth, the nursery grown varieties are safe.

And where do these berries come from??? All our varieties DON'T produce berries, only these small green spike balls after the flowers have dropped off.

Saintin

Saitin
the reason the sterile cultivars are banned too is because it's been shown that they can produce pollen which is capable of fertilising wild lantana. The resulting progeny a tougher critter, a worse result for biodiversity etc. Rose.

it looked pretty, until i was educated on the reality of it's pestiness. it's a weed and im going to start eradicating the one out the front, starting by cutting it back and leaving the branches on the paving to dry out, before i compost the lot. i read a study on the positive allelopathic effects of lantana compost on rice growth, so i'm hoping this will translate to other food producing plants.

Shops and nurseries sell lantana here every year! I love lantana. It attracts sooo many hummingbirds! I love lantana and it never causes problems for me.

Katelyn you must be in USA as we don't have hummingbirds in Australia. You've dropped in on an (old) Australian garden thread. Perhaps the situation is different in your country/state but lantana remains a weed and pest over here.

I live in perth and they do still sell L montevidensis over here. I've had a few purple ones growing out the front for about 10 years now and never had a single new plant sprout but I think it behaves much better in our dry summer climate. I occasionally water mine in summer, otherwise it would only just limp through and survive summer. I tried transplanting one of them to another garden bed and it quickly turned up it's toes. The native butterflies do love it though and it's a good drought tolerant plant for perth and with out water prices I like that.