Lantana Camara

Botanical Name : Lantana camara
Family: Verbenaceae
Genus: Lantana
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Lamiales
Species: L. camara
Common names: Lantana , yellow sage ,red sage
English: Coronitas
Bengali Name: Putush phool

Odia Name: Dahani Mari

Lantana camara, also known as big-sage (Malaysia), wild-sage, red-sage, white-sage (Caribbean) and tickberry (South Africa), is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to the American tropics

The native range of L. camara is Central and South America, however it has become naturalized in around 60 tropical and sub-tropical countries worldwide.It is found frequently in East and South Africa where it occurs at altitudes below 2000 m and often invades previously disturbed areas such as logged forests and areas cleared for agriculture.

Lantana camara (Botanical Name) is a small perennial shrub which can grow to around 2 m tall and form dense thickets in a variety of environments. Due to extensive selective breeding throughout the 17th and 18th Centuries for use as an ornamental plant there are now many different L. camara cultivars.

Lantana camara, often planted to embellish gardens, has spread from its native Central and South America to around 50 different countries,where it has become an invasive species.It spread from the Americas into the rest of the world when it was brought back to Europe by Dutch explorers and cultivated widely, soon spreading into Asia and where it established itself as a notorious weed.

Lantana camara will often out compete other more desirable species, leading to a reduction in biodiversity It also cause problems if it invades agricultural areas as a result of its toxicity to livestock as well as its ability to form dense thickets and which if left unchecked can greatly reduce the productivity of farm land.

It is known to be toxic to livestock such as cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and goats.The active substances causing toxicity in grazing animals is pentacyclic triterpenoids which result in liver damage and photosensitivy. L. camara also excretes chemicals (allelopathy) which reduce the growth of surrounding plants by inhibiting germination and root elongation.

Medicinal value

Studies conducted in India have found that Lantana leaves can display antimicrobial , fungicidal and insecticidal properties. L. camara has also been used in traditional herbal medicines for treating a variety of ailments, including cancer, skin itches, leprosy, rabies, chicken pox, measles, asthma and ulcers.

There are also some scientific studies which have shown beneficial effects of L .camara, such as one by R. Satish which found that an extract from the plant reduced ulcer development in rats.Extracts from the plant have also been used to treat respiratory infections in Brazil.

Just out of curiosity I have collected these information from net and the picture in my Blog taken with Nikon D7200.

#PhotoBySiba