Friday 29 July 2016

:: lantana ::

Even a weed can be beautiful - it is all a matter of context. 
Not native to Malaysia, but the Southern Americas, lantana has naturalised there as it has in many parts of the world, often with fairly disastrous consequences. As its leaves are toxic to herbivores and its fruit is scrumptious for birds, it spreads almost unchecked and has 'colonised'.
On the bright side - and it is a very brightly-coloured beauty - lantana is a wonderful attractant for butterflies. In appropriately-trimmed tropical gardens where the immature fruit is pruned before birds get there, it is such a pretty plant to admire. Three or more colours in one 'umbel' - or flower cluster - as the individual flowers mature, they change colour from yellow through orange to pink. 
Not only admired by humans and butterflies, the weaverbird collects lantana flowers to decorate their nests!

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