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Book cover - Common Weeds of New ZealandAn Illustrated Guide to
Common Weeds
of New Zealand

 

Lantana camara
lantana

Family VERBENACEAE

Reproduced from
Common Weeds of New Zealand
by Bruce Roy, Ian Popay, Paul Champion, Trevor James & Anis Rahman
ISBN 0 473 09760 5
by kind permission of the
New Zealand Plant Protection Society

Publication or other use of images or descriptive text on these pages is unauthorised unless written permission is obtained from the authors and publisher. Appropriate acknowledgement of the publication Common Weeds of New Zealand must always be given.

Available from Manaaki-Whenua Press and Touchwood Books

Lantana camara - lantana

Branched, pleasant-smelling, hairy, somewhat prickly perennial shrub up to 3 m tall in warm places in North Auckland. Small, tubular flowers in tight bunches, of variable colour, usually changing from cream or yellow to pink, purplish-pink or rose.

  • Flowers Rose and yellow, up to 1 cm in diameter, fragrant. Corolla tubular, with four backward-curved lobes, in dense inflorescences on slender stalks up to 10 cm long in the leaf axils. Flowers Jan-Dec.
  • Fruit Poisonous, juicy round drupes (berries) about 5 mm in diameter. Drupes initially green, ripening to deep purple or black.
  • Leaves In opposite pairs, crinkled, with rough hairs on the upper surface, soft hairy underneath. Leaves bluntly-toothed, egg-shaped or heart-shaped, up to 13 cm long by 7 cm wide, on stalks up to 2 cm long.
  • Stems Square, with a pithy core. Erect to spreading or scrambling, usually with curved-back prickles.

Habitat

Road-sides and waste places in warm districts.

Distribution

NI only, locally abundant on the north-west shore of Hokianga Harbour, occasional elsewhere in North Auckland, Auckland (Rangitoto Island) and Bay of Plenty (as far east as Opotiki district). Originally from tropical America.

Comments

In many parts of the tropics, this species is a dangerous weed, being poisonous to livestock, although it has never been a problem in NZ. Lantana camara var. aculeata, the most common variety of lantana found growing wild in NZ, with cream and pink flowers, is listed on the National Pest Plant Accord (see Introduction for details). Other forms and species of Lantana are common garden plants.

Derivation of botanical name

Lantana (Lat.) = viburnum, named for its similar foliage; camara South American name.

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Web-notes: Weed Links

On this site

Reproduced from Common Weeds of New Zealand:

External Links

Weedbusters New Zealand
Weedbusters is a weeds awareness and education programme that aims to protect New Zealand's environment from the increasing weed problem.
NZPCNNew Zealand Plant Conservation Network Weeds Fact Sheets
Search for 1500 weed fact sheets mainly derived from the Department of Conservation's BIOWEB weeds database.
NZ Plant Protection SocietyNew Zealand Plant Protection Society
Their main objective: "To pool and exchange information on the biology of weeds, invertebrate and vertebrate pests, pathogens and beneficial organisms and methods for modifying their effects."
 
NZ Landcare TrustNew Zealand Landcare Trust
Plant Pest information including Pictures, Distribution Maps, References, Environmental Effects and Control.
 
New Zealand Aquatic Weeds
Hosted by the weed management group of NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research).
 
Weed Control Manual for the Bay of Plenty
Weeds information compiled by Environment Bay of Plenty.
 
Massey UniversityMassey University Weeds Database
A site providing information about New Zealand weeds and weed control. It has a series of pages showing pictures of New Zealand weeds, notes on identification and control. It also provides information on a university paper entitled Controlling Weeds.
 
Canterbury Weed Guide
A weed identification guide prepared by the Christchurch City Council.

Australian Plants as Weeds
Part of the Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants website.
Department of Agriculture Western Australia
Collection of weed resources from the Department of Agriculture, Government of Western Australia
Weed Society of Victoria
Promoting wider awareness and interest in weeds and their management. Includes a useful page of links to other weed societies.
 
Tamar Valley Weeds Strategy
Listing of common and botanical names, images, and information including control methods for weeds found in Tasmania, and also on the Australian mainland.
 

New Jersey Weed Gallery, USA
Listing of common and botanical names and images, plus a small amount of information for weeds that cause problems in the USA.
Invasive and Exotic Species of North America
Images and other information from the University of Georgia.
University of California
Weed Photo Gallery, with common and botanical names.

World of Weeds
Weed-related resources including weed science, practical tools, gardening tips about controlling weeds, and environmental news updates.
 
Invasive Species Specialist Group
"The ISSG aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species, and of ways to prevent, control or eradicate them."
 
Invasive Woody Plants
Collection of research and associated literature for invasive woody plants in the tropics and the temperate zone.
 
WeedScience.com
Site that includes a comprehensive collection of weed images from around the world.
 


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Last updated: December 20, 2005