Lantana

How to identify it

Lantana is a shrub 2 to 4 metres tall that can also scramble up to 15 metres into trees. Look for:

• leaves in opposite pairs, oval, 2.5 to 10 cm long, with toothed edges and a rough or velvety feel, which smell strongly when crushed
• small flowers packed into dome-shaped heads 2 to 3 cm across, in pink, white, yellow, orange or red, often several colours in one head
• round berries 4 to 7 mm across that ripen from green to shiny purple-black
• square young stems, and older stems covered in short, hooked prickles

Lantana flowers almost all year. Creeping lantana is a smaller, low-growing relative with purple flowers and no prickles.

Where it grows

Lantana grows best in warm, wet places with full sun, which describes much of the Nambucca Valley. It is most common in disturbed ground such as roadsides, creek and riverbanks, fence lines, power line easements, pasture edges and coastal dunes. Frost slows it down, so it is less of a problem on colder high ground.

Why it's a problem

• It smothers native plants and stops bushland regenerating, which means less food and shelter for native animals.
• All parts of the plant are poisonous to cattle, sheep and horses. Red-flowered forms are the most toxic.
• Thickets add fuel to bushfires and make creeks and bushland hard to get into.
• It invades pasture and reduces the grazing a property can carry.
• The plant is also poisonous to people if eaten, and the sap can irritate skin and eyes.

How to control it

Lantana is rarely beaten in one go. Plan to combine methods and come back for regrowth.

• Hand pull seedlings and small plants after rain when the soil is soft, taking out the whole root.
• On large thickets, work in from the edges a section at a time, so you can keep up with the follow-up.
• Cut and paint: cut each stem about 15 cm above the ground and apply a registered herbicide to the cut within 15 seconds. Treat every stem, because any stem you miss will regrow strongly.
• Spray small plants under 2 metres while they are actively growing. Mature plants respond best from February until the first frost.
• Slashing and burning reduce the size of a thicket but rarely kill it, so treat the regrowth.

Check the area again 3 to 6 months after any work, and look for a flush of seedlings after summer rain. Pink-flowered lantana is easier to kill with herbicide than the red-flowered forms. Always follow the herbicide label. For advice on your property, contact your local council weeds officer.

Safety and disposal

• Wear long sleeves, long pants and gloves. The prickles scratch and the sap can irritate skin.
• Keep livestock away from cut and wilting lantana. It is still poisonous, and stock are more likely to eat it once it has been cut.
• Cut stems can take root on damp ground. Pile cut material off the ground to dry out, or chip it.
• Never dump lantana in bushland or put plants with berries in the green waste bin.

Stopping it coming back

• Treat new seedlings before they are a year old and below knee height.
• Replant cleared ground with local natives or good pasture so lantana has to compete.
• Clean slashers, mowers and boots before moving from an infested area to a clean one.
• Check creek banks and fence lines after summer rain, when seedlings come up in numbers.