General Information

COMMON NAMES: Lantana; German Wandelröschen; French Lantana TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tātarāmoa / Rānatāna (RR), Tūtae ‘Oro‘enua (AT), Tātarāmoa (MK AK); Other Polynesian - Lantana (SAM) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Caribbean COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; S.Group only (Rarotonga, Atiu, & Aitutaki); Land, lowlands - mountains (++++) SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Invasive - serious, Weed - serious, Toxic to mammals and people

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present    Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++++	-	++++	X?	-	++?	-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Lantana camara Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Lantana aculeata

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Lamiales; VERBENACEAE

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Invasive - serious, Weed - serious, Toxic to mammals and people. Comments: It forms dense thickets on waste and fallow areas in the lowlands. Its sharp thorns make hand weeding a painful and difficult job. Spread mainly by fruit-eating birds, especially the introduced Common Myna. All parts are toxic, especially green unripe fruit, to cattle, sheep and goats (and people); and the leaves can irritate the skin and cause dermatitis. The toxic chemicals are triterpenes (lantadene A & B). Some cultivars are only mildly toxic, having less lantadene A and B. [various sources, G.McCormack 2005/12]

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.1320 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.723 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.918 Tropica
p.5/172 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.93 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.401d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.122 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02

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