Lantana in the park

The lantana's seductive colours against the Callan Park sandstone belie its legendary status with bushcarers. What arrived in Australia as an ornamental garden plant in the 1840s soon escaped to the wild, becoming an invasive weed of national significance. Lantana forms dense thickets notoriously difficult to remove which choke out other plants. Here it is today – amongst weed-friends milk thistle and capeweed – basking in the morning sun.