Lantana camara

Native from Mexico through tropical America, it is a heavily branched shrub with aromatic, rough leaves and often prickly, square stems. Its flowers occur in compact clusters and may change color as they age and after pollination. Birds disperse its fleshy fruits, which ripen from green to dark purple or black. Cultivated widely as an ornamental, the species has also become invasive outside its native range. In Australia, it can form dense thickets that suppress native vegetation, and some varieties are toxic to livestock. Photographed in Colombia and Florida.