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| Category: Shrub |
| Family: Verbenaceae (Vervains) |
| Origin: South America |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Purple |
| Bloomtime: Year-round |
| Synonyms: [Lantana sellowiana] |
| Height: 1-2 feet |
| Width: 8-10 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Seaside: Yes |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Deer Tolerant: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 10-15° F |
| May be Poisonous (More Info): Yes |
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Lantana montevidensis (Purple Trailing Lantana) - A low-growing mat-forming plant that grows to 2 feet tall and trails to 10 feet with slightly-hairy green strongly-scented small leaves and puts forth a seemingly year-round display of numerous lightly-fragrant lilac-purple flowers held in a circular head about 1 and 1/2 inches wide. The individual flowers, not quite 1/2 inch wide, have white toward the base of the lilac petal lobes and a yellow throat and open from the outside of the inflorescence first and then towards the center. It thrives in full sun or light shade and is drought tolerant, deer resistant, tolerant of seaside conditions and is hardy down to about 20 degrees F and can rebound from below ground from temperatures approaching 10°F (USDA Zone 8) . In cold weather the foliage can take on an odd blackish-purple cast. This plant is a tough old time groundcover that blooms all the time in Southern California and when in bloom attracts bees and butterflies. Deer seem to leave it alone as do Lantana Lace Bug (Teleonemia scrupulosa, which plague the larger growing Lantana camara and L. hybrida selections. Lantana montevidensis is native to South America from Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and southern Brazil and was first described in 1825 as Lippia montevidensis from a collection in Bolivia by the German botanist Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel but was reclassified as Lantana montevidensis by the Swiss botanist John Isaac Briquet in 1904. The name for the genus comes from a Latin name for plants in the genus Viburnum because of the similar inflorescence structure and the specific epithet comes from the location in Montevideo, Uruguay where the plant was found. This plant was also described as Lippia sellowiana in 1826 and has long been called Lantana sellowiana - this name to honor the German botanist Friedrich Sellow (or Sello) but Lantana montevidensis is considered correct because it is the older name. Other common names include Pole-cat Geranium, Weeping Lantana and Wild Verbena. We also grow the white flowering form Lantana montevidensis 'Alba'.
The information about Lantana montevidensis displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |
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