Flora of New Zealand Series

trailing lantana

Aromatic, semi-prostrate shrub; stems to c. 20 cm high, ± trailing, densely hairy, scabrid but otherwise not armed. Petioles to c. 1 cm long. Lamina 1.5-3 × 1.-1.5 cm (on flowering branches), narrow- to broad-ovate, crenate or crenate-serrate, hairy on both sides, slightly scabrid above, densely covered with minute shining brown glandular scales beneath; base cuneate to rounded; apex acute. Infls corymbose; fls slightly fragrant. Peduncles 1-10 cm long, slender; bracts c. 1/2 length of corolla tube, broad-ovate, densely hairy and glandular outside, less so inside. Calyx c. 1 mm long, glandular and hairy. Corolla densely glandular and hairy outside; tube c. 1 cm long, narrow-cylindric; limb 7-12 mm diam., pink to mauve; lobes slightly recurved. Fr. not seen.

N.: Mangonui (N. Auckland); S.: behind the Port of Nelson.

Argentina, Uruguay 1978

North-facing cliffs.

FL Jan-Dec.

Trailing lantana is a commonly cultivated sp. in warmer parts of N.Z. where it is often grown in rock gardens, and used as a ground-cover plant on retaining walls and banks. It is more tolerant of cold than L. camara and is grown further S. It is often still known as L. sellowiana in N.Z.