Lantana camara L.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Verbenaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Lantana camara L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub 1—2(—3) m tall, many-branched from base; stems 4-angled, usually with numerous recurved prickles at the angles, pubescence of simple and glandular hairs. Leaves opposite; blades 3-8 x 1.7-5 cm, ovate to oblong-ovate, chartaceous, scabrous above, sparsely pubescent beneath (the hairs coarse and bent at base), the apex acute to obtuse, the base unequal, rounded, truncate, or cordate, the margins serrate; petioles 5-15 mm long, pubescent, sometimes minutely spiny. Rowers in axillary heads subtended by involucral bracts; heads 10-18 x 17-25 mm; peduncles 1.5-5.5 cm long. Calyx greenish, 1-1.5 mm long; corolla turning from yellow to orange or rarely pink-purple with a yellow throat, the tube puberulent without, yellow, 10-13 mm long, slightly curved, the limb 3-5 mm wide; stamens and style included. Drupe ovoid to obovoid, turning from green to blackish, 3-6 mm long.

  • Discussion

    Common names: red sage, wild sage, yellow sage

  • Distribution

    A common shrub of dry and disturbed habitats. Emmaus (A2826), Nanny Point (A2456), Susannaberg (A3385). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; apparently native to the Greater Antilles, introduced and naturalized throughout the tropics and subtropics of the world.

    Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|