NATURAL-HEALTH-HAPPINESS

LANTANA

Lantana camara Lantana involucrata

ERBENACEAE


The genus lantana is found in all warm regions of the world.




Both species
L. camara and L. involucrata
probably from the Caribbean and South America and have been deliberately or accidentally distributed in the tropics.


Herbal Medicine

They are thorny shrubs bush (L.camara) or unarmed (L.involucrata), very resistant to climatic conditions of hot countries, enduring long periods of drought in full sun or heavy rains.

Their inflorescence discreet but of different color (white, pink, purple, yellow, red) is seen as decorative plants (in temperate countries, they are annual, but will remain protected).

But their ability to spread (the fruits are eaten by birds and small seeds spread very quickly), the fact that their leaves are not edible for animals, are considered plant pests, especially in the high islands of the Pacific where they can grow into impenetrable thickets smothering native vegetation.




COMPOSITION AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
Herbal Medicine
Both plants have leaves that crushed emit a pleasant smell a little minty.

The essential oil (see glossary) that comes from their distillation is variable in composition, but there are terpenes (see glossary) and terpenoids: pinene, terpinene, caryophyllene different.



The fruit of L. camara contains tri terpene acids (lantadènes) that are toxic to humans and livestock.



The disorders are caused primarily gastrointestinal (vomiting and diarrhea) sometimes liver (jaundice) and accompanied by phenomena of photosensitivity (see glossary).
In humans and especially children (attracted by this small fruit that resembles a large ripe), symptoms are sometimes serious disorder of the autonomic type poisoning parasympathicolytique (see glossary) (atropine).
The aqueous extracts of the whole plant have antibiotic activity on gram-positive bacteria.

USES
The Indian and Creole populations of Caribbean and South American drink brew some tea leaves as antipyretic (see glossary), "Influenza" and chest.

Some people consider this infusion as a substitute for quinine, the fall is very rapid febrile.

Terpenes present in the leaf are also antidyspeptiques and decoction (see glossary) of leaves would be anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic.

Bathing in an infusion of leaves is tonic, febrifuge (see glossary), widely used by the Indians of South America to calm the fever in children and also to treat scabies or cutaneous superinfections associated with parasites and bites insects (antiseptic and antibiotic)