Location: Wildlife Plant Garden

Names:

• Common Name: Lantana
• Botanical Name: Lantana urticoides (l. horrida)
• AKA: Texas Lantana, Calico Bush

Description: A spreading shrub, much branched from the ground upward, branches sometimes with prickles. Frequent in brushy places and in woodlands. Bark light gray to light brown, tending to flake off. Young twigs nearly square in cross section, covered with short hairs visible under a 10x hand lens. Leaves opposite, up to 2 1/2 inches long, broadly ovate, pointed at the tip, flattened at the base, upper surface rough to the touch; margins coarsely toothed, teeth broad, pointed or rounded. Flowers colorful, red, orange, and yellow, tubular with four flared lobes; in dense, rounded clusters with a leafy bract subtending each flower, at the ends of long paired stems (peduncles) usually extending beyond the leaves, appearing from April to October. Fruit round, fleshy, dark blue to black.

Best Growing Conditions: Full Sun, Partial Shade; Low Water Demand; Dry Soil; Heat Tolerant

Landscape Use: Salt Tolerant, Deer Resistant, Focal Point/Specimen Plant

Wildlife Value: Bees, Birds (including Hummingbirds), Butterflies (nectar source)