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Creeping lantana (Lantana montevidensis)

Creeping lantana is an aggressive invasive weed in pastures in coastal and subcoastal Queensland and New South Wales. It can replace native pasture grasses and is toxic, with cattle poisoning suspected.

Key facts

Type: Weed, shrub.

Native to: Uruguay and southern Brazil.

Established in: QLD, NSW, VIC, WA, NT.

Other names: Purple Lantana, Small Lantana, Trailing Lantana, Weeping Lantana.

Identification

  • It is a creeping, trailing or scrambling shrub or sub-shrub with weak, narrow stems usually 1–2 m long, sometimes reaching 4 m in favourable conditions.
  • Young stems are usually four-sided in cross-section and lack prickles.
  • Its opposite leaves are bright green, about 8–35 mm long, often rough and hairy on top, strongly aromatic, and bluntly toothed at the edges.
  • Flower heads contain about 20 flowers, ranging from purple or lilac to white, often with a contrasting throat.
  • Fruits are usually 3–6 mm long and ripen from green to purplish-black or dark violet.
  • Look-alike: Lantana (Lantana camara) is similar, but creeping lantana lacks thorns, usually has purple flowers and trails along the ground; it normally grows to about half a metre high.

Where it grows

In Australia it is scattered in coastal and subcoastal Queensland and New South Wales, in habitats including disturbed areas, open woodland, roadsides, river banks and paddocks.

Why it matters

  • It can displace native vegetation and, during successive dry seasons, may replace native grasses because of its drought tolerance and scrambling growth.
  • Dense thickets may take over native bushland and affect biodiversity.
  • The plant is toxic and suspected of poisoning cattle; its unidentified nerve-damaging toxin can pass through milk and affect calves from six weeks of age if their mothers eat the plant.
  • It was assessed among 71 nominated species but was not included among the 20 Weeds of National Significance; it remains a weed of potential national significance.

How it spreads

  • Fruit-eating animals and birds spread the seeds, as can water flowing over the soil during heavy rain.
  • Seeds can also be carried in mud on hooves and footwear.
  • The plant can spread vegetatively by layering, when a stem grows roots while attached to the parent plant and later detaches.

Control options

  • Use an integrated approach similar to the methods used for Lantana camara.
  • Where practicable, grub out or cultivate plants for physical removal.
  • Where physical removal is not possible, registered herbicides may be used; foliar spraying can kill plants less than 2 m high and is most effective when plants are actively growing.
  • Biological control is also being investigated, with research ongoing into agents for possible release.

Hygiene and washdown

  • Seeds can be carried in mud on footwear and hooves, so avoid moving contaminated mud between sites.
  • Inspect and clean vehicles, plant and footwear before leaving an infested area, paying attention to tyres, radiators, belly plates, tracks and floor mats.
  • Wash down at a designated bay where runoff is contained and can be monitored for seedlings.
  • Record each washdown so the client has evidence of clean entry and exit.

Classification by state

  • Australia (national): No national listing. Managed under state and territory law.
  • Queensland: Restricted matter, category 3. Do not give it away, sell or release it into the environment. Everyone must also take all reasonable and practical steps to minimise its risks (the general biosecurity obligation).
  • New South Wales: Not a priority weed. Not a state or regional priority weed in NSW. The general biosecurity duty applies: anyone dealing with it must prevent, eliminate or minimise the risk it poses.
  • Victoria: Not declared. Not declared under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. Other Victorian laws may still apply.
  • South Australia: Not declared. Not declared under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019. Other laws may still apply.
  • Western Australia: Permitted, not declared. Listed as a permitted organism in WA, so it can be brought in, but it is not a declared pest.
  • Tasmania: Not declared. Not a declared weed in Tasmania. Other laws may still apply.
  • Northern Territory: Declared weed, Class B. Class B: growth and spread must be controlled. All declared weeds are also Class C, so they must not be brought into the NT.
  • Australian Capital Territory: Not declared. Not declared under the Biosecurity Act 2023 (ACT). A general biosecurity duty still applies.

Legal obligations

Every state and territory places a duty on landholders and people working on land to prevent the spread of invasive species, such as the general biosecurity obligation in Queensland and the general biosecurity duty in New South Wales. Declarations and control requirements differ between states and local government areas, so check the current official list before work starts.

  • Queensland: Biosecurity Act 2014 (Qld), administered by Biosecurity Queensland (13 25 23)
  • New South Wales: Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW), administered by NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
  • Victoria: Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 (Vic), administered by Agriculture Victoria
  • Western Australia: Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (WA), administered by the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
  • Northern Territory: Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976 (NT), administered by NT Department of Lands, Planning and Environment

Sources