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Lantana trifolia; photograph (c) fmunoz, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) fmunoz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-02-15

Lantana trifolia L.

Threeleaf shrubverbena; Sweet-sage

Verbenaceae · Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast +33

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Lantana trifolia, photograph (c) Erick Vélez Sánchez, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lantana trifolia, photograph (c) Erick Vélez Sánchez, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lantana trifolia, photograph (c) Erick Vélez Sánchez, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lantana trifolia, photograph (c) Erick Vélez Sánchez, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lantana trifolia, photograph (c) Silvia Ten, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lantana trifolia, photograph (c) Silvia Ten, some rights reserved (CC BY) 72 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
13.2°C
Record low 8.6 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
28°C
Apr, May and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,197mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
26–39DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A sharp rainy season, May to November (the habitat's months, not shifted), in a year of even temperature. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Lantana trifolia is a species of shrub in the family of Verbenaceae which is native to Central and South America but also has been introduced in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia. It bears beautiful flowers and small edible fruit. Its roots and leaves have been used in traditional ethnomedicines against a large variety of diseases.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Lantana trifolia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Lantana

Lantana is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in the Australian-Pacific region, South and Northeastern part of India. The genus includes both herbaceous plants and shrubs growing to 0.5–2 m (1.6–6.6 ft) tall. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Lantana", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,571 mm of 2,121 mm) falls in May to November. The temperature curve is flat, 2.9 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere. The habitat lies within 10° of the equator, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

2,121 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,571 mm of it May to November. Wettest month September at 258 mm, driest month March at 90 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,318 mm to 3,735 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,197 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,121 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 39 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 22, the highest 90th-percentile month 42).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 13.2 °C, the absolute minimum 8.6 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 41.1 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 18.0 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range 13.3 °C to 22.6 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 28.1 °C in May (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 13.2 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 64 to 68% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -32 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Lantana trifolia through the yearWarmest months April, May and August, mean daily high 28 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 18.0 °C; 2,121 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.0°10°20°30°40°50°41.1° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER8.6° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500600mm rainDLI 26–39RH 64–68%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 172 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C25 / 21–2926 / 21–3027 / 22–3128 / 23–3228 / 22–3227 / 22–3127 / 22–3128 / 22–3127 / 22–3027 / 21–2926 / 21–2826 / 21–29
Night °C18 / 13–2318 / 14–2319 / 15–2320 / 15–2321 / 16–2421 / 16–2421 / 15–2421 / 15–2421 / 15–2421 / 15–2420 / 15–2319 / 14–23
Rain mm96 / 23–21095 / 19–23790 / 27–271142 / 45–372193 / 100–426248 / 90–409210 / 74–410221 / 77–446258 / 100–530245 / 132–449196 / 59–357127 / 33–276
DLI29 / 24–3431 / 27–3736 / 29–4039 / 25–4236 / 24–4234 / 23–4134 / 25–4235 / 26–4133 / 26–3830 / 25–3427 / 23–3326 / 22–32
RH %66 / 59–7264 / 59–7164 / 58–7164 / 58–7266 / 60–7367 / 63–7367 / 61–7367 / 61–7368 / 63–7368 / 63–7467 / 62–7466 / 61–73

Records on both sides of the equator: the 80 cells at least 10° south of it have seasons six months apart and are left out, not combined into a year no place has. These figures are across the 172 cells that remain: the 95 at least 10° north and the 77 within 10° of the equator, which stay in either way.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 172 grid cells holding the 194 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1452:1696 (17.375, -95.175). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 8.6 °C, 1st-percentile night 13.2 °C, 99th-percentile day 41.1 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 172 distinct grid cells holding 194 of the 288 in-range records on the northern side of the equator (95 cells poleward of 10° north, 80 poleward of 10° south: the two sides' seasons are not combined, and cells within 10° of the equator stay in); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1452:1696 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 17.50_-95.000, lapse-corrected -32 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 90 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Windward Is., French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil West-Central, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Paraguay · introduced: Benin, Guinea, Nigeria, Togo, Burundi, Central African Republic, Gabon, Rwanda, Zaïre, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cape Provinces, Comoros, Madagascar, Bangladesh, India, Andaman Is., Myanmar, Thailand, Jawa · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker9.776, -83.783 · in the densest population, 252 records (22% of those in range)
Kew's description“shrub” · “seasonally dry tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1171 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 194 of them in the land cells it reads, of 288 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 1012 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 4 km away. 260 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 883 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1171 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Lantana trifolia, photograph 1did not loadLantana trifolia, photograph 2did not loadLantana trifolia, photograph 3did not loadLantana trifolia, photograph 4did not loadLantana trifolia, photograph 5did not loadLantana trifolia, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Erick Vélez Sánchez, some rights reserved (CC BY) (4); (c) Silvia Ten, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Piper hispidum Piper hispidum Jamaican pepper Photo: CC BY, Alexis López HernándezUrera baccifera Urera baccifera Urticaceae Photo: CC BY, Marcos GramagliaBacopa salzmannii Bacopa salzmannii Plantaginaceae Photo: CC BY, Nicolas OlejnikPeperomia rotundifolia Peperomia rotundifolia Yerba linda Photo: CC BY, Ronaldo PedrãoPteris biaurita Pteris biaurita Thinleaf brake Photo: CC BY, 黃美滿Bunchosia nitida Bunchosia nitida Malpighiaceae Photo: CC BY, Eduardo Chacón Madrigal

Other Lantana 20 in the reference

Lantana achyranthifolia Lantana achyranthifolia Brushland Lantana Photo: CC0, author not statedLantana angolensis Lantana angolensis Purple Bird's Brandy Photo: CC BY, Robert TaylorLantana camara Lantana camara Common lantana Photo: CC BY, Matt BergerLantana canescens Lantana canescens Hammock shrubverbena Photo: CC BY, Cody HinchliffLantana depressa Lantana depressa Pineland Lantana Photo: CC BY, Ben MachadoLantana fucata Lantana fucata Verbenaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, LorellaLantana grisebachii Lantana grisebachii Verbenaceae Photo: CC BY, RAPLantana hirsuta Lantana hirsuta Verbenaceae Photo: CC BY, João D'AndrettaLantana hirta Lantana hirta Verbenaceae Photo: CC BY, Neptalí Ramírez MarcialLantana horrida Lantana horrida Verbenaceae Photo: CC BY, Guillaume DelaitreLantana involucrata Lantana involucrata Buttonsage Photo: CC BY, harriiLantana megapotamica Lantana megapotamica Verbenaceae Photo: CC BY, RAP all 21 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Camara trifolia; Camara trifolia f. rosea; Camara trifolia var. grandifolia; Camara trifolia var. indica; Camara trifolia var. normalis and 31 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Verbenaceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf +32
Wild records
1171 in range · 1012 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 13 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (5 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 2 at a herbarium, 6 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 17.50_-95.000, lapse-corrected -32 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 171 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…