Family Verbenaceae
The species are mainly of South American origin and are of interest only as the parents of the hybrid varieties which are vastly superior. The principal species used in raising the hybrids were Lantana camara which occurs with yellow, red or violet flowers, L. nivea (white) and L. trifolia (red). /.. camara grows wild on all the islands of the Dutch East Indies, as well as tropical South America, where infusion from the leaves is used as a tonic and a stimulant. It has the common name Surinam tea plant. Lantanas are half-hardy evergreen shrubby plants and in warm countries are often used as hedges. In the 1960s there was a lantana hedge round the swimming pool of the Nile Hilton Hotel in Cairo, which may still be there, and lantanas were also used as a screen round the garden of a cafe at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens.
The species already mentioned are upright in growth and bloom in the summer months, but there is another species, L. sellozviana, which has a trailing habit. It has lilac flowers and is more likely to bloom in the winter. At one time there were many named varieties of lantana such as 'Chelsea Gem-pink', 'Favourite' (yellow and red), and 'Cloth of Gold' (yellow), but nowadays plants are usually offered merely under colour of flower descriptions.
