India, April 24 -- There is a pretty, fragrant, and deadly alien tentacling its way across India.

And we've woken up to the problem really late.

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The lantana has had a headstart of about 200 years.

In the early 1800s, hybridised varieties of Lantana camara, a species native to South America, were introduced to India by colonisers, as ornamental hedges.

Their tiny flowers, which grow in bouquets of different shades, were certainly charming. But the plants then quickly escaped their gardens and began to make their way into farms, pastures and forests.

There, they suffocate native vegetation. They have since become a dominant species in protected areas such as the Bandipur sanctuary in Karnataka and the Kumaon region of the Himalaya...