Lantana camaraCommon Lantana

Almost nothing flowers as relentlessly in heat as Lantana camara. Flat heads of tiny flowers open in one colour and age to another, so a single head carries yellow, orange and red together, and in a warm climate the display barely pauses.

The plant is tough to the point of being difficult: it takes reflected heat off paving, poor soil, salt-laden wind and long dry periods, which is precisely why the compact sterile cultivars have become a fixture of Gulf and tropical streetscapes.

Specifications

• Height1 to 3 metres, with compact cultivars held at 0.3 to 0.8 metres
• Width1 to 2.5 metres
• Native toTropical America, from Central America to the Caribbean and northern South America
• FoliageRough-textured, aromatic ovate leaves with toothed margins; evergreen in warm climates
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilPrefers well-drained soils; tolerates poor, sandy, stony and alkaline ground
• LightFull sun
• WaterLow; strongly drought-tolerant once established
• ClimateThrives in tropical, subtropical and arid regions and tolerates extreme summer heat

Additional Features

• FlowersFlat heads of small flowers that change colour with age, carried almost continuously in warm climates
• UsesStreet medians, roundabouts, car park islands, slope stabilisation and mass colour planting
• SpacingPlant 0.5 to 0.8 metres apart for compact forms, or 1 to 1.5 metres apart for the species
• Low MaintenanceCut back hard once or twice a year to keep plants dense and flowering low
• Pest ResistanceRarely troubled; the aromatic foliage deters browsing
• Salt ToleranceTolerates salt-laden wind and is used in front-line coastal planting
• ToxicityFoliage and unripe fruit are toxic to livestock; not suitable for grazing land
• Wildlife AttractionFlowers are worked heavily by butterflies

Common Lantana is the most productive flowering shrub available for hot, dry, high-exposure planting, provided the form supplied is the right one.