Lantana camara, commonly called lantana, shrub verbena or wild sage, is native to Central and South America. It is an upright frost-tender shrub that grows up to 1 m tall. Nowadays, many cultivars and hybrids are available, including dwarf and trailing plants.
Lantana has escaped gardens throughout the world and is now a noxious weed in many frost-free/tropical areas where it can rapidly spread to form dense thickets. It has e.g., naturalized in parts of the southern U.S. including southern Florida, the Gulf Coast and southern California.
Hummingbirds and butterflies absolutely love the lantana flowers; butterflies are needed for pollination.
Lantana produces fleshy two-seeded drupes that turn from green to metallic blue when ripe. The fruits are poisonous for animals and humans and will cause severe discomfort when ingested. However, the ripe fruits are consumed by birds which spread the seeds. The metallic blue berries are also eaten by school children in Surinam, without harm to them.