2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Lantana camara is an important nursery and landscape plant in many states including Florida. This species has been listed as an invasive species by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council and classified as invasive in Florida by the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas. A research program was initiated in 2004 at the UF/IFAS’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center to understand the reproductive biology of L. camara and develop new infertile, non-invasive cultivars. Polyploidy, formation of unreduced female gametes, and production of apomictic seeds have been associated with the invasive potential of this species. Two infertile triploid cultivars (‘UF-T3’ and ‘UF-T4’) were released in 2011, followed by releasing of another two infertile triploid cultivars (Bloomify™ Red and Bloomify™ Rose) in 2016. Compared to ‘Pink Caprice’, a L. camara variety that is most close to the naturalized type, the pollen stainability of these new cultivars has been reduced by 85% or more, and fruit production has been reduced by greater than 99%. The new cultivars do not hybridize with the Florida native lantana species L. depressa or produce viable seeds after hand pollination. Based on the male and female fertility data of these cultivars and their lack of hybridization potential with L. depressa, the UF/IFAS Assessment of Non-native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas concluded that these cultivars are not likely problematic taxa in Florida. Two of these cultivars, Bloomify™ Red and Bloomify™ Rose, became commercially available in spring 2018.