Lantana

Lantana is a shrub like plant that may grow anything up to 45 centimetres high. It has opposite; round leaves and flowers borne in flat-topped clusters. The flower colour (which varies in different areas) may be white, yellow, orange, pink, or red. It has a dark blue or black berry like fruit. It belongs to the Verbena family.It is now considered an invasive species as it out competes many other plants where it was once introduced as a garden specimen.

Other Names: Lantana Camara, Big-Sage (Malaysia), Wild-Sage, Red-Sage, White-Sage (Caribbean), Tickberry (South Africa).

Special Precautions of Lantana

• Lantana contains ketones that can be toxic used for long periods of time, so it is best used as a short term medicinal.
• Best avoided during pregnancy due to large ketone percentage.
• Use well diluted. May cause dermatitis in some individuals.
• Avoid use on sensitive skin
• Lantana camara is known to be toxic to livestock such as cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and goats. The active substances causing toxicity in grazing animals is pentacyclic triterpenoids which result in liver damage and photosensitivy. It can be fatal for cattle.

The benefits of Lantana are

This oil is quite rare. It is known to be anti-catarrh, antiviral, antitumor, cicatrizant, emmenagogue, mucolytic.

• Skin: wounds, cuts, ulcers. It can help stop bleeding, and carries anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties, as well as speeding the healing of torn tissues.
• respiratory effects : can relax and deepen breathing while also acting as an expectorant (for loosening phlegm). It may help with bronchitis and asthma as well as with viral infections. It is best inhaled for this purpose.
• Used in massage and energy healing, lantana essential oil helps dissolve solidified emotional energy and allow it to “drain” out through the feet. This can be helpful for treating tumors, cysts, hardened tissues, etc. with an emotional cause.
• Stimulates liver and gallbladder.
• Leishmaniasis : Essential oil from leaves of Lantana camara: a potential source of medicine against leishmaniasis.
• Cancer : Beta-elemene (β-elemene) belongs to the sesquiterpenes group, is reported to inhibit mouse pancreatic cancer and neoplastic metasis, and have antitumor effect.

References

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-695X2012000500012