Lantana is a special kind of flower. It is special because flowers usually have petals but Lantana has aromatic flower clusters, also known as umbels, are a mix of red and orange florets, according to what I found on Wikipedia.
Red-and-Orange Lantana with red and orange florets
Lantana bears berries and when they are ripe they become edible. However, like most fruit, they may be mildly poisonous if being eaten while still green. Lantana flowers and berries are the main attraction to insects and birds, but so far, I’ve only witnessed insects being attracted to them and in such coincidence this picture was taken while an insect was “stopping by”.
An insect stopped by the Red-and-Orange Lantana
The leaves of Lantana produce a kind a strong smell which can be easily traced if you are near to the plant or after you touched the leaves with your hand. However, as with almost all plants, the leaves of Lantana are toxic if eaten.
Picture showing leaves of Lantana from the Pink-and-Yellow Lantana
As you can see from the picture below, the buds of the Red-and-Orange Lantana are surrounded by flower clusters. These buds look like small butterflies. They will soon bloom into beautiful red and orange flower clusters too.
Red-and-Orange Lantana with buds waiting to bloom
This is the Yellow-and-Pink Lantana
The Twins
And…talking about triplets
Here comes the whole family. Aren’t they gorgeous?
This is the Pink Lantana. However, I’m uncertain whether it has evolved from its original colour of the other flower clusters have not bloomed yet. That’s really something worth to be looked into.
This is the Orange-Centred-Purple Lantana
This is the Yellow-Centred-White Lantana
This is the Yellow Lantana
1Malaysia
