Appearance
''Lantana montevidensis'' is a small strongly scented flowering low shrub with oval-shaped green leaves. With support it has a climbing 'vine' form, when on edge a trailing form, and on the flat a groundcover form.The inflorescence is a circular head of several purple to lavender to white funnel-shaped flowers with lobed corollas each nearly a centimeter wide. Yellow-flowered ''montevidensis'' are a case of misidentification and most often relate to the "New Gold" lantana ''Lantana × hybrida'', a hybrid between ''camara'' and ''montevidensis''. Occasionally these yellow-flowered plants are misidentified ''Lantana depressa'' var. depressa, a Florida endemic taxon more closely related to ''Lantana camara'' with smaller, less robust flowers.
The fruit consists of a pair of nutlets surrounded by flesh somewhat like a berry.
Naming
The plant is present nearly worldwide as an introduced species of garden and landscape plant, and in some areas, such as parts of Australia and Hawaii, now a noxious weed and invasive species. This plant is toxic to livestock.The name ''Lantana'' derives from the Latin name of the wayfaring tree ''Viburnum lantana'', the flowers of which closely resemble ''Lantana''.References:
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