Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various chiefly tropical shrubs or herbs of the genus Lantana, widely cultivated for their dense clusters of small colorful flowers.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of gamopetalous plants of the natural order Verbenaceæ, tribe Verbeneæ, type of Endlicher's tribe and De Candolle's subtribe Lantaneæ, characterized by a small, membranaceous, truncate, sinuose-dentate calyx, a corolla with 4 or 5 lobes, and a juicy drupe.
  • noun A plant of the genus Lantana.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any member of the genus Lantana of perennial verbenas with aromatic flower clusters.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a flowering shrub

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin Lantana, genus name, from Italian dialectal lantana, wayfaring tree, viburnum, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *lentāgō, *lentāgin-, from Latin lentus, light, flexible.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the genus name.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word lantana.

Examples

  • Majesty King Mswati III, at which he presented a grant of pesticides to control invader plants, such as lantana, in the reserve.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1997

  • When he hid in the lantana jungle, they formed lines of beaters, and through lantana jungle and guava scrub they drove him like a rabbit.

    Koolau the Leper 2010

  • With welcome relief on his face, he removed the lei hala from his neck, and, with a sniff and a sigh, tossed it into concealment in the thick lantana by the side of the road.

    SHIN-BONES 2010

  • After Ms. Ternes made her feelings known, I didn't have the courage to suggest there might be an alternative to both begonias and lantana, whatever lantana is.

    Bemoaning the Begonias Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011

  • Even more disturbing was their decision last summer to replace the begonias—of which Ms. Ternes apparently feels quite protective—with lantana.

    Bemoaning the Begonias Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011

  • The terrestrial ecological balance of the islands has been threatened by the introduction of predators, competing species and exotic plants such as guava, citrus, lantana, quinine, elephant grass and blackberry which invade the territory of native species on abandoned farms.

    Galápagos National Park & Galápagos Marine Resources Reserve, Ecuador 2009

  • The weed lantana, for example, has degraded more than four million hectares of Australian rangelands.

    Biodiversity 100: actions for Australia Guillaume Chapron 2010

  • You can help the process by surrounding the area with plants they like, such as honeysuckle, crossvine, bee balm, hollyhock and lantana.

    Whether to attract (hummingbirds) or repel (mosquitoes), products deliver 2010

  • He surveyed the hillside, admired the lantana growing from Mexican pottery urns flanking one side of the pool.

    The New Yorker Stories Ann Beattie 2010

  • He picked a spent bloom from the lantana that sheltered the bench.

    Writing Workshop: What are YOU Working on? | Write to Done 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.