Lantana

Lantana is officially declared plant pest number one. The effort to keep this weed in check is immense. Still hardly anyone knows about the problem, and it is an extremely common plant, that one can't miss around here. It forms thick undergrowth, and colourful flowers. It attracts lots of insects and even birds that benefit from the plant. However, they overgrow everything and leave no room for native plants to grow and support native animals. There are some informative leaflets on the web. As far as I know, one can still buy Lantana in shops, allegedly non-fertile hybrids. Publicity is never good for experiments with the release of beetles. But you can find some beetles on this webpage that were released to try to fight this weed.