Lantana aka Wild Sage or Buttonsage

(Lantana involucrata)

This plant is native to South Florida. White flowers bloom year-round followed by purple fruits with a single seed. The fruits are edible when ripe but toxic when green. Folk medicine has used a tea prepared from the flowers to treat high blood pressure. The leaf tea has been used to treat fever, venereal disease, and as a bath to relieve the itching of chickenpox and measles. The leaves pounded in water have been used as an emetic. Oils from the leaves are used in the perfume industry. Birds eat the fruits and butterflies frequent the flowers.

Information Provided by the Friends of Barefoot Beach Preserve
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