I think Lantana's are just about the most confusing plant out there when trying to figure out what kind is what, so much breeding has gone on. The sterile types get berries too, not as many but they do get them. These berries are sterile (I think) because I tried sowing about 50+ from a large all gold lantana and none came up. I did the same thing with what I am guessing is 'Carnival' which also had many berries, its definitely not the old 'Ham and Eggs" which will self sow generously. These seeds didn't come up either. So, I don't think seeing berries will indicate what you need to know. If its a plant I liked I would take a cutting and just wait to see. I took cuttings from both these plants

The 2 plants I took these cuttings from have been there many years. Its located in a mess of a garden, all going to weeds. I didn't see any other lantanas coming up so I assume they are both sterile.

I also took a cutting from one which I thought was horrida because it has proved itself winter hardy here. Then I purchased and planted horrida seeds I purchased from Native American Gardens and have noticed the difference in the plant structure, leaf size & spacing. I'm wanting them to be aggressive since I'm trying to conquer an area full of unwanted plants along a border so I don't care if they self sow. The seeds from the plant I took cuttings from were viable I found out just the other day when they came up easily. Confusing, confusing confusing.

By the way, they get berries fairly quick, as soon as the flower fades.

Thank you. That's helpful.

Now it does seem that if these Lantana don't get a lot of berries, I might be somewhat reassured about them being New Gold. If I harvest berries, and I plant them, how long will it be before I can see if they don't germinate? Am I talking about a year from now? I'd sure like to know sooner.

It's very good to hear that the berries follow closely on from the flowers. So now I know when to look.

The hybrids have a lot less of the berries. The unimproved types are loaded so I go by that. Hey, I wish I could take that promiscuous gold one off your hands and let nature take its course instead of me planting seeds, rooting cuttings etc.

When I planted seeds I had to soak them in peroxide and then scarify between two pieces of sandpaper to simulate a birds gut. They came up in about a week to two weeks, not all seeds germinated.

Excellent. I figured I'd have to scarify the seeds. Now, I'll just hope I don't find any! That would simplify things.

Well, they've got wonderful flowers, but as to promiscuity with berries, I have yet to assess.

I really was somewhat unaware of the fervor with which this legacy stuff tries to spread (aided by birds). As it turns out, I see, the "horrida" species name isn't from that fervor, but has something to do with the way the leaves smell to some people.

Actually, looking closely at my cuttings, I seem to have a few seeds. I have about a dozen cuttings, and each has reached about a foot in length. Most have bloomed. Precisely two have a couple of small translucent berries each, which I guess are the seeds. I suspect the birds haven't gotten to them.

So first of all, there are very few seeds on these plants, and many of the cuttings don't have any at all. Is that sounding like the sterile version?

That is, should I expect the fertile Lantana to be loaded with seeds?

Thats what I observed about them. I bought a 4 cultivar plants at Farmer's Mkt and they each had a couple berries here and there. My ground cover yellow type, you know that common one you see used everywhere, is winter hardy here and definitely sterile but it gets a few berries here and there. The Camara 'Ham & Eggs' on the other hand gets loaded and the berries are bigger, like a whole cluster of them form on almost every flower stem and you can easily grab a handful from a section of the plant if you want. I can imagine it taking over an area easily especially in zone 8 or 9.

'New Gold' has been around since the 1980s, but agree with Texas Ranger10 about the confusion. It's described as 1 ft high trailing by some growers and 4 ft high vertical by others; hard to believe they're the same plant line. "Sterility" is obviously not absolute when talking about lantana cultivars since newer hybrids like 'Chapel Hill Yellow' have been crossed between "sterile" parents ('New Gold' X 'Miss Huff').

Our 'New Gold' and most others I've seen have been tagged as l. camara or l. camara x hybrid. Thought I had once seen what it was crossed with, but can't find now. Not sure that it was Texas lantana (l. horrida).

What I read was that the plants with L horrida in their genetics are the most cold hardy. Most of the small multicolored ones are L. camara crossed with L. montevidensis and they aren't cold hardy.

The large cold hardy big shrub lantana I got cuttings from that blooms all gold here is a mystery type. Next to it is another cold hardy robust big shrub that has light yellow/light pink flowers that looks like 'Carnival' which I also got cuttings from. I have no idea what type the gold one is, its always thick with blooms, both plants are & very pretty.

I planted 4 'Miss Huff' last year which is touted to be the most cold hardy Lantana on the market. None of them made last winter, which was unusually cold, but I wintered over cuttings that are now blooming. The low growing yellow ones all made it through and so did the two original shrubs I "stole" cuttings from. They did grow faster quicker than any other kind and by the end of the season were huge.

I spent a lot of time online trying to figure out what that gold one was and never did come up with a good match. Maybe its 'Chapel Hill'? I don't know.

The big patch of Lantana I got my cuttings from (it's about 200 square feet of bed) were sad brown tufts sitting on the ground at the end of winter, where we had temps down to the low 20s. They erupted profusely in late March and April, and now are a massive filled-in patch that stands about a foot or two high. The flowers are bright gold. So this is certainly a "small shrub" and, now that I have gone back to inspect the patch in detail, there are very few berries. Just a couple here and there. You actually have to look hard to find them.

These were planted en masse in an landscape bed where there are quite a few deer, and the deer tolerance of New Gold is supposed to be quite good. Whoever planted them probably was thinking about that.

So I'm thinking that maybe these are New Gold.

TexasRanger10, Sorry to hear Miss Huff wasn't hardy for you; we've been looking for one hoping it would return in 8a as well as l. horrida does. Most of the other l. camara hybrids we've tried frequently don't survive our freezes and don't do well from small bedding pots as annuals because they seem to sulk a big chunk of the year getting their roots down into our clay. Growth is great the second year whenever they do manage to survive our winter.

daninthedirt, No deer here, but all the rabbits seem to leave the lantana alone, too..... so far, anyway.

Bostedo in a normal year I'd expect it would do fine. Last year was not normal. In zone 8, I cannot imagine it not making it because its typically hardy north of me, I'm in mid Oklahoma so I wouldn't judge by last year at all. Its not the only thing I lost that should've made it through easy, I even lost a couple Salvia greggii and thats never happened in all the years I've grown it, a couple died to the ground but most made it. My Cenizo Texas Sage made it but the poor thing is still sulking and seems traumatized. Some branches have only a leaf or two while others are fully leafed out.