India, Oct. 18 -- There's a flower that looks great in a garden but can end up spreading across millions of hectares. That's the story of lantana in South Africa. The shrub was brought to the country in the mid-1800s for gardens, according to a 2014 study by Subhashni Taylor and Lalit Kumar in the African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. The study cites earlier research showing it has invaded more than 2 million hectares. Today, researchers describe it as a major invasive species in South Africa.

Lantana camara is native to central and northern South America and the Caribbean, but the study says it has now been found in about 60 countries or island groups. It was introduced into South Africa as an ornamental, but has beco...