Lantana (Lantana camara) flowers tend to be a favorite amongst gardeners due to their variety of colors and their hardiness. Some people also know these beauties as common lantana, red sage, Spanish flag, or West Indian lantana. It comes in quite a few serovars that have different color combinations and varying levels of color intensity. I’m not sure which type this one is, but in my opinion, it’s quite attractive. The one I see most often has an orangish red dark flower with yellow lighter colored flowers. I consider it to be pretty colorful, but the colors are less intense than this version. This particular plant was growing along the right of way in front of a house out in the country, and I’m really not sure it it was planted or growing wild.

Lantana is native to Mexico and Central and South America, but it occurs in much of the world, especially tropical and subtropical regions. It’s so widespread because of it’s popularity as an ornamental plant, which is definitely understandable. Unfortunately, it’s hardiness also makes it an invasive species in many places, including here in Florida. It commonly escapes from decorative areas and can grow readily in the wild. The other disadvantage of lantana is that it is toxic to livestock. Since it likes open, sunny areas, as you can imagine, it likes to grow in pastures. Even though it can have a bitter taste and most livestock won’t eat it unless nothing else is available, it also tends to steal nutrients from pasture grasses, especially in areas with poor soil quality. Like many other nonnative species, lantana has its pros and cons, and since it’s invasive I don’t plant it, but it is terribly pretty, and I also don’t destroy it if I find it in the wild, either.