Ganda-Pana/Rata Hinguru Flower

Ganda-Pana/Rata Hinguru (Lantana camara) Flower

Photographer - Ms Lalani

Date : 2014-06-13
Time : 4.40 pm
Location : Sri Lanka, Kothmale

 A native shrub of South America (probably West Indies) and now widely distributed throughout the tropic. It was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1926 through the Royal botanical garden as an gardening plant and later on escaped and naturalized at all elevations of the country. It is very common in wastelands, open areas in jungles, abandoned chena cultivations etc….Now it is considered as an invasive plant and measures are being taken to eradicate or control spreading of this plant specially in national parks such as Udawalawe, Bundala..etc where invading Lantana shrubs greatly reduced grazing lands available for Elephants and other wildlife. However ripe berries of this plant are widely eaten by birds and they act as dispersers of seeds. Also it provides nectar for butterflies.

Lantana camara is a small perennial shrub which can grow to around 2m in height and forms dense thickets in a variety of environments. Due to extensive selective breeding throughout the 17th and 18th Century for use as an ornamental plant there are now many different forms of Lantana camara present throughout the world.

Lantana camara has small tubular shaped flowers which each have four petals and are arranged in clusters at the end of stems. Flowers come in many different colours including red, yellow, white, pink and orange which differ depending on location, age and maturity. After pollination occurs the colour of the flowers change (typically from yellow to red/pink/orange), this is believed to be a signal to pollinators that the pre-change colour contains a reward as well as being sexually viable, thus increasing pollination efficiency.

The leaves are egg-shaped, simple, arranged oppositely on the stem and have a strong odour when crushed.

The fruit of Lantana camara is berry-like and turns a deep purple colour when mature. Both vegetative (asexual) and seed reproduction occur. Up to 12,000 fruits can be produced by each plant which are then eaten by birds and other animals which can spread the seeds over large distances, facilitating the spread of Lantana camara.