Lantana camara Linnaeus (1753: 627)

Cardoso, Pedro Henrique, Valério, Vanessa Imaculada Dos Reis, Neto, Luiz Menini & Salimena, Fátima Regina Gonçalves, 2021, Verbenaceae in Espírito Santo, Brazil: richness, patterns of geographic distribution and conservation, Phytotaxa 484 (1), pp. 1-43 : 13-14

6.1. Lantana camara Linnaeus (1753: 627) . (Figs. 2A, 5F)

Shrubs 1‒1.5 m high, branches tetragonal, armed with prickles, glabrescent to hirsute, glandular sessile trichomes present. Leaves opposite, petiole 0.5‒1.7 cm long; blade 3.5‒9.5 × 2.3‒6 cm, chartaceous, narrow-ovate to wide-ovate, apex acute, base obtuse or attenuate, margin entire near the base, crenate or serrate toward the apex, ciliate, adaxial surface opaque, sparsely strigose or hirsute, slightly bullate, abaxial surface pubescent or hirsute, glandular sessile trichomes present. Inflorescences 0.8‒1.6 cm long, rachis not elongated in fructification, 1 per axil, peduncle 2‒7(‒8) cm long, glabrescent to sparsely hirsute; bracts equal, 4‒8 mm long, lanceolate, abaxial surface strigose, glandular sessile trichomes present, margin ciliate; calyx 2‒2.5 mm long, 2-lobed, externally pubescent, not accrescent in fruit; corolla 1‒1.3 cm long, red, orange, or yellow. Fruit ca. 5.5 mm long, black, external surface smooth.

Distribution and habitat:— Lantana camara is native from tropical and subtropical America, however, it is currently distributed throughout the world, being considered as ruderal, invasive to crops, and cultivated for ornamental purposes ( Lorenzi & Souza 2001, Silva 1999, Silva & Lima 2012). In Brazil, it is the widest distributed species of the genus, found in all phytogeographic domains ( Silva et al. 2020). In Espírito Santo, L. camara is often found in restingas and along roadsides. It occurs inside the following SPAs of the state: Reserva Biológica Augusto Ruschi, Parque Estadual Paulo César Vinha, and Parque Estadual da Fonte Grande.

Phenology:— Collected with flowers and fruits in January, April, May, July, September, October, and November.

Preliminary conservation assessment: —This is a common species (invasive and ruderal), presents a wide distribution ( Lorenzi & Souza 2001, Silva 1999, Silva & Lima 2012), being recorded inside PAs in South America. Considered “Least Concern” (LC) ( IUCN 2019).

Selected material:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Águia Branca, 4 October 2007, fl. and fr., H . Q .B. Fernandes et al. 3513 ( CESJ, MBML); Alfredo Chaves , 14 January 1995, fl., G . Hatschbach et al. 61409 ( MBM, MBML); Anchieta , 18 November 1987, fl. and fr., J . M .L. Gomes 293 ( CESJ, VIES); Aracruz , 25 September 2011, fl. and fr., T . F . Sagrillo & C . L . Dalmonech 23 ( CESJ, MBML); Domingos Martins , 19 September 2018, fl., P . H . Cardoso et al. 38 ( CESJ); Ecoporanga , 7 April 2012, fl. and fr., I . V . Damaceno et al. 1 ( CESJ, MBML); Guarapari , 3 May 1994, fl., J . M .L. Gomes 2104 ( CESJ, VIES); Linhares , 7 November 1989, fl., M . S . Menandro 170 ( CESJ, CVRD); Piúma , November 2002, fl., H . Pinheiro et al. 108 ( VIES); Santa Teresa , 25 April 1984, fl., J . M . Vimercat 85 ( CESJ, MBML); Venda Nova do Imigrante , 2 February 1995, fl., D. A . Folli 2557 ( CESJ, CVRD); Vila Velha , 19 May 1989, fl., O . J . Pereira 1985 ( CESJ, VIES); Vitória, Parque Estadual da Fonte Grande , s.d., fl. and fr., G . N . Martins 55 ( CESJ, VIES) .

Notes:— Lantana camara is characterized by the branches armed with prickles; lanceolate bracts, and red, orange, or yellow corolla. It presents high variation both in the indument and leaves morphology, probably due to the broad geographic distribution ( Silva 1999). It is morphologically similar to L. tiliifolia and L. caudata , differing by not having abundant pedicellate glandular trichomes.

Illustrations in Silva & Lima (2012).